The Children's War Record
by Forlorn Story Teller
Summary: A boy with ADHD had no place in war, but he was a pushover certain ambitious girl drag around as she please. After getting dragged to railway, another world with gun and magic, you'd think Alberich would wise up and stop Tanya from dragging him to Imperial army. "And that's why we should volunteer." She said, which kind of make sense to him but also kind of not. "Okay?" semi-SI
1. Prologue (ED)

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

* * *

PROLOGUE

A salarywoman who should mind her own business

Japan, 2013 AD

She was your everyday office employee who was in the spring of her youth. Or rather, in a season of passion for her job as a designer and uncaring of everything frivolous in life, like marriage. Just the other day she had cut off the phone call from her parents when the topic came up. She didn't even want to hear it, not for the millionth time anyway. The salarywoman was well aware that young woman like her were the reason that Japan's birth rate had dropped to rock bottom. Many businesses in the country focused on children and they were suffering because of it.

Especially schools; she heard that her old school had closed last month due to the steadily decreasing amount of applicants.

Of course, she refused to take part of the blame. Let people who wanted to copulate take the job of repopulating their country. It wasn't like she was fit to take the job of a mother and a wife; she preferred the company of fellow workers, her beloved laptop and a cup of tea.

She didn't have a problem with her looks, being born with an average face. There wasn't anything special about her; her warm brown eyes weren't going to impress anyone. Even if her mother called her a beauty, parents in general tended to look at their kids with rose tinted glasses.

She did have some issues, some would even perhaps misunderstood it a mental disorder. It came with being born as a SEN child, and growing up different would give any child some complexes. She couldn't sit still in class without causing trouble for the teacher or another child that was trying to study. It was difficult to pay attention to what was being taught in class when all she had was a bundle of energy inside trying it's best to come out. She had learned to restrain herself after some of her friends stopped talking to her.

Japan was a country that loved their people to be equal and uniform, even more so in school where their children were to be molded into what they deemed normal.

The only thing that saved her from expulsion from her school was the money her middle-class family had thrown at a therapist. She had been diagnosed with ADHD so there was no problem with her intelligence and cognition. After an arduous educational journey that had been a bit bumpier than most, she graduated from a good university with a degree in Interior Design.

Even with her academic issues solved, as an adult she hadn't taken any advice from her therapist to put any effort into her social life. Talking to others was just out of her comfort zone. For one, picking up on social cues was beyond her capabilities more often than not. When her friends laughed at some jokes all she could do was smirk awkwardly. Or how she tended to shy away from reunions and other social gatherings, simply standing in midst of a crowd made her uncomfortable. Worse still was the idea of people bringing up her past; as it would make them realize that she was still the same spacey girl with an overactive imagination.

She wanted to bury those memories; to forget all about them. All she wanted in her future was a successful career, and one day an opportunity to open her own interior design company.

"Please! Wait, you can't do this to me!"

"Yes, I can… Kuzuyama-san. Just clean up your desk and leave our office before I call security to escort you out!"

She was snapped out her musing, inwardly scolding herself for leaving reality. 'Damn! I didn't pay attention to senpai in the middle of site-recce, hopefully I didn't miss much.'

"We're done with the surveying location, have you taken notes on the amount of daylight, noise, and circulation in the office?"

"Yes," Her co-worker, a fellow junior designer answered and she followed his example.

"But there seems to be some problem with getting original CAD file for this office layout."

"It's an old skyscraper so they only have the hard-copy," their senior noted.

Luckily her senior didn't seem to notice her spacing out for the last few minutes. "Do we have to redraw it then?"

"How troublesome." Her fellow junior added, before glancing at the depressed ex-employee and HR manager's standoff on the corner. "What's going on over there?"

Her senior wasn't a strict person, in fact, she was very lax and didn't mind gossiping when working as long it didn't disturb their time table. "Ah, he is at it again… that guy over there is the HR manager here. I met him before, he's a very strict guy who can't take slackers at all."

"You have no one to blame but yourself for being an incompetent worker and repeatedly taking leave without permission! The company has been lenient enough to you!"

"Please! My daughter is still in school and my family-"

She frowned at the man, his family was pitiful indeed to have a husband and father like him. If you had a wife and daughter so dependent on you, why didn't you put in more effort for their sake? Heck, why did you start a family at all when you can't even work properly?

"What a poor man, that HR manager is merciless," her friend said.

Her senior shushed them. "It's none of our business, and someone in charge of HR has to be strict…"

"But-"

She interrupted, "The company will go under if we keep incompetent workers. It's better for employees like him to suffer, rather than everyone else who works hards." Back when she when she had been a student, her school keep their incompetent teachers who were biased against her status as a SEN child. Even though the law stated that schools had to reprimand them for their discriminatory attitudes, they had not. If not for her good marks, she would never have graduated.

"Uwaa… that's harsh of you! Be more sympathetic!"

"Sympathy shouldn't be wasted," she said bitterly.

Their senior sighed, "Never mind, let's go home now and remember to come early tomorrow. We will have a briefing on this project in the morning."

"Yes, ma'am."

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

She would come right on time, of course! Her senior promised to give her a large chunk of this project to design! She would bring this dreary office that looked like chicken coop to 21th century! An open, economical office concept with plenty of daylight and bright color! It wasn't a massive project and the budget wasn't much either, but she was sure she could convince them to move from that humiliating, disenfranchising and isolating design of workers' cubicles. Then again, anything could be better than their sad Cubicle Land!

"Uhm, are you going in or not, young lady?" Asked the old office worker behind her.

She hastily tapped her card on the scanner and rushed in, almost running to the half-opened fare gates. How could she block the way during rush hour like this?! Thankfully no one paid attention to her weirdness as they were too busy trying to get into their own train. She waited for a while so the first train to her home passed by, aiming for the next so she could leisurely take the last cart. It tend to be less crowded, and if she was lucky it would be a Women-Only car.

No offense to the women out there outraged by the special attention that brought their kin back a century into the age of the stay-at-home wife, but she will take advantage of the special privilege the government had graciously given~

"Hm…"

She glanced to the side and saw the vicious HR manager from before standing beside her. He was reading a book with yellow cover but as he had not flipped it for a while, his attention wasn't on it. He was smiling to himself smugly and she knew he had let his mind wander. She nodded to herself, and decided to leave him to his imagination.

On the corner of her eyes, she surveyed his appearance. He seemed to be in his mid or late thirties, hair combed neatly to the back, sharp of face. The look was similar to that of an evil lawyer from a movie she had watched when she was young. Though this stern, no nonsense expression fit his profession as HR manager to a T, appropriate for someone whose work was laying people off.

She idly put her hand inside the side pocket of her suit and fished out her phone, frowning when she saw her phone was already dead. The battery had run out really quickly lately, even though it was new. "Not again… why was this phone even issued if it was broken?" She wondered out loud to herself.

"Ah, that model is sold cheaply on the market due to problem with the battery." Spoke out the voice on her right.

She was surprised the cold looking man was speaking to her. "Really?"

"You should return it."

"It's a company's phone…" She explained with morose expression. "My manager sometimes sends me updates on things I might have to do first thing in the morning. Those slackers in tech-dept!" They didn't siphon the Company's Tech budget, did they?

The manager adjusted his glasses and said, "You should file a complaint. A company is like a machine, if one of the cogs is flawed then the whole company would be affected."

She wished. As a junior all she could do is tell her manager that the phone she had been issued with had broken, and it was totally not her fault, and hopefully they would give her a better one. Unlike this guy who had courage as HR people to tell off people, she'd rather avoid conflict with anyone. Call her cowardly, but life experience had taught her that keeping your head down meant less enemies and a more peaceful life.

Especially because…

'Hm?' She caught somebody moving on the corner of her eyes. 'Wasn't that the employee he just fired this afternoon?'

"The train's coming, please step back below the line Miss." The HR Manager warned her.

She had been standing over the line without realizing it, and quickly moved back. "Right-" She felt chastised a little, looking at him gratefully. He had gone out of his way to warn her, so she had to be thankful as a basic courtesy. "Thank-" Then she saw that man again, right behind the salaryman with his hands stretched out.

"Hey!" She shouted but it was too late.

The salaryman was pushed off of the platform, shocking everyone around them at the blatant murder in the middle of a crowded train station.

She didn't know what prompted her, but her hand had reached out for his, dangling helplessly in the air. It was the most foolish and impulsive thing she had ever done in her whole life, trying to catch a well-built man, while she herself was a petite woman who had never lifted anything heavier than shopping bags.

In those brief seconds before their death, the woman had no time to ponder about the foolishness of regretting her last act of kindness in life.

Then everything became white.

Especially because... some people could be driven crazy by their hatred,

and even the law couldn't protect you from their ire.

She had seen this before in other people too,

that's why... she kept her head down.

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

* * *

Unified Year, 1913

The cry of a baby was the first thing she heard, and it was coming from next to her. What had just happened to her? Her mind felt clouded, and it had never felt that way since she was eight years old. She opened her eyes, but all she could see was a blurry outline of color. Her limbs weren't responding properly, as if all of her muscles had fallen asleep. With some effort one of her groping arms touched something she couldn't identify, something wet and soft.

Her sense of touch told her that her other hand felt some sort of fabric beneath her, a bit coarse and itchy to her sensitive skin.

The scent that invader her nostrils was salty and milky, the scent of a baby.

Her mouth tried to speak, but her tongue was uncooperative like the rest of her body and could only awkwardly made cooing sounds. "Daaa….uuuu…"

She was confused, but her brain refused to think up a solution to this situation.

A blurry outline that might have been a person came over and peered down at her. "Alberich… what a mischevous child, shoving your fist into little Tanya's mouth. You'll get it all dirty!" Chastised the voice of a kind woman who lifted her up and wiped the saliva coated fist.

Alberich? Who was Alberich?

"Little Tanya is hungry so I will feed her first, wait for your turn patiently our little fairy king." The blurry face cooed, snuggling to her face. "Sister Anna, hold little Al for me." Then she felt her body passed over to another.

"Yes, Sister Petronella."

It was when the baby was passed and the weak neck turned that she could look a tad clearer at the full length mirror that was propped against the nearby wall. A nun dressed in dull grey was holding a baby, chubby cheek, pale skinned, with a vivid red tuff of hair with eyes like young green leaves.

"Sister Anna!" Scolded the older nun, "Careful with the boy's neck, it's still tender!"

"Yes, I am sorry ma'am!"

These people spoke in Deutsch? She learned it in high school as an elective, and while she was rusty at it she could make out some words. She called her, junge which meant boy in Deutsch and not madchen. She-no-HE was… a boy?!

Little Al is… me?!

If Alberich was not as shocked, perhaps he would have noticed that the baby girl on Sister Petronella's arm was also in the same predicament. Perhaps an even worse one because her train of thought was interrupted by spoonful of tasteless mashed vegetable. Or that he too would be subjected to the same torture soon.

* * *

Beta-ed by BrazeRancor, thanks a bunch!  
Edited chapter would be released according to my beta's speed.


	2. 1st Record (ED)

1st RECORD

Baby Didn't Have Woes, Kids Does

Reich Empire, 1913-1918

Contrary to what those reincarnation light novels authors wrote, redoing your days as a baby wasn't terrible or humiliating or disgusting. Rather, it would be all of those if he was conscious enough as a grown person in the body of a baby. At this point those novel characters usually would lament about the helplessness and dependency of a baby, and how disgusting it was to pee in your crib.

However, babies didn't have enough brain capacity to have these early woes of life.

All they knew to do was eat, sleep, poop, pee, and then repeat.

They slept most of the time, and even when they were awake at a few months old they weren't that lucid. Their sight was blurry, all they could smell was the familiar scent of their caretakers and food, and their motoric ability hadn't developed enough. It all passed like a dream, or rather like living a life half-awake. Especially so in this second life that somehow carried the ADHD over to this body. And of course it didn't help that he was a boy this time.

'It feels like the curse of my previous life followed me like a leech.'

At some point he was adopted by a middle-aged couple who didn't have a child of their own.

They bit off more than they could chew when they adopted the red haired boy, as he was once again a bundle of uncontrollable energy with nonexistent self control. The boy also spoke gibberish like a baby even though he should be at least able to speak broken words by then. Their adopted child ran them ragged, and it didn't help that staple foods of that era were the kinds you shouldn't feed to a child with special needs. In the end, the aging couple didn't have the patience or strength to take care of a hyperactive child.

Alberich was three years old when his haggard foster parents returned him to orphanage. Recalling this, he wished that couple hadn't given up on him so easily, unlike his parents in his previous life. He couldn't particularly blame them however. Even in the modern era plenty of parents, especially those with bad finances, abandoned their problematic children. Alberich counted his blessings, at least the couple hadn't abused him. So he went back to the old orphanage where the biological parents of his second life had abandoned him.

It was only when he was four years old that his mind was awake and lucid enough to comprehend his situation.

First of all, the woman that he used to be was dead.

She had become a disgusting splatter of flesh and blood on that rainy day. The less he mulled over it the better.

Second, she was alive again and now she was a boy that went by the name of Alberich Beilschmidt.

He wasn't sure where the nuns got his surname, but Sister Petronella who named him had terrible naming sense. Later he found out his father was a soldier whose wife had died when birthing him, and since neither had any relatives to take care of Alberich he was given away to an orphanage. Also, it seemed said father had passed away in the line of duty last year. What a track record to be abandoned twice by his parents, and pathetically cliché! Yet another thing he should forget about.

Third, he was in the past of a completely different world.

How did he know he wasn't in his original world anymore and not just time-travelling? Simple, the last time he checked the Latin alphabet didn't look like a secret code he could read if he twisted it around or erased a line or two. Also, looking at the mural of a map given by a donator he was pretty sure Germany wasn't that big or even an empire prior to World War One.

History was one of his favorite subjects in school, but he prefered learning of ancient civilizations rather than humanity's biggest follies, the World Wars.

Another giveaway that this world wasn't the one he was familiar with was… the statue in the church. Instead of a crucified Christ and the Virgin Mary, the centerpiece of the altar was the statue of an old toga wearing man flanked by angels. Said old man was very… familiar too.

* * *

The train station being suddenly replaced by a white space with nothing but an ancient ruin in it was quite a shock. Kneeling amongst the broken stone she could recall vividly that had been about to die, dragged down to the tracks in front of a moving train.

Noticing the presence of two other people heatedly arguing nearby, she couldn't bring herself to care as she patted her intact and warm body.

"I am alive!"

"No, you're dead young lady." A deep voice remarked.

She jumped to her feet and whirled around, "I am?! No,no no…. how could this happen?! This is so unfair, I am still young! I still have a dream! A family! My parents are getting old, and I still have to take care of my brother! He has no idea how to conduct himself in society, he will get swindled! And-"

"Young lady… calm down." The Zeus lookalike spoke, a frown contorting bushy white eyebrows.

The salaryman sighed before he gave the woman a slap, bringing her back to her senses. "Take a deep breath, there's no point panicking."

She took the advice, the sting on her cheek bringing focus. It made her feel alive. "Haa-ah… where are we, and… who are you old man?"

The old man frowned, "I am God, believer."

Her dark eyes blinked owlishly at the 'God' before her. "Erm… you are?!" Should she fall on her knees now? But kneeling when a muscular old man called himself God was kinda…

"He is no God." The salaryman scoffed, "Even if he is, he just let two innocent human get killed by some irrational trash for no good reason."

The 'God' harrumphed, "Your karma caught up with you, there's no one you can blame but yourself for being such a callous man."

She frowned, her mouth moved faster than her brain. "Uhm… the man he fired missed work without permission many times and his work ethic was terrible. Of course he would be dismissed."

The salaryman nodded sagely, "I don't know if you're a demon from some kind of backwards society, Being X, but surely firing an incompetent man in accordance with my job can't be counted as a sin…"

"Being a non-believer is sinful enough! You are driven by nothing but your worldly desire for a life without agape!"

"I gave you my reasons for why I don't believe in God! I don't need you!"

Her head buzzed as they argued back and forth, but she was certainly skeptical of this old man really being a God if he managed to get himself into a circular argument with an atheist.

"Then, young lady… do you have anything to say to this sinful man who dragged you to your death with his karma and refuses to change his atheistic ways!?"

Why did he ask her this? Argue your point yourself! "Uhm… it's not like he was the one who pulled me." She was the one who had grabbed his hand after all. Besides, even though she felt as though she hadn't done anything to deserve such a fate she doubted she'd get any sympathy from her colleague. "And… I don't think I have the right to force anyone to convert. We should respect each other's beliefs." Discrimination and intolerance to differences in opinion were dangerous to society as a whole. In this age, anyone who lived in a heterogeneous society should tolerate their different neighbors and agree to disagree.

"You!" Now the old man got angry at her, "Your devotion to me is too weak!"

"Excuse me! It would be against human rights to be intolerant of different beliefs in modern society!" Now it was her turn to argue with this entity.

"As human baptized in my name, you should have the faith and strength to defend me!"

"And as a civilized human, I certainly should respect freedom of choice! I will not hijack a plane and hit a skyscraper in your name! Why does God even need defending anyway?!" She wasn't going to turn into one of those unreasonable religious people who threw their rationality to the dogs!

The salaryman adjusted his glasses, "Good point."

"Also, if you're MY God please return me to life! My family still needs me, I haven't repaid my parents for raising me and taking care of my brothers! And my manager still needs me to finish that project! I beg you!"

The old man was trembling now in rage, "Both of you have to be punished!"

Huh?

"Initially I planned to just use him for this experiment, but you just had to bring this upon yourself… Well, I should be less harsh to you…"

She began to sweat, his last line didn't comfort her at all. "Uhm… I am sorry, but this is between you and him!"

Why should she get involved?! She argued to not get involved in the first place!

"So you two shall both be brought down to a world of unscientific magic and come to know

WAR!"

* * *

Recalling that confrontation, he was full of regret. "I should have kept my mouth shut…" Alberich, or Al muttered to himself as he looked at the mural map in a daze. "Well, if he wants to punish me… he did a splendid job." Given back to the orphanage by his foster parents was quite a blow to his psyche, if he was a normal kid he would probably have developed abandonment issues by now.

Someone cleared their throat and Alberich, who was too engrossed in his woe, ignored them. "Hey!" Screeched the voice with lisp. "You over there, are you deaf?! Alberich Beilschmidt!"

He jolted, before turning around in haste, and bowed to the speaker. "I am sorry!" He thought it was Sister Anna, a very strict matron everyone feared. It was not a sister though but one of the girls in the orphanage.

She was very pretty, her vivid icy blue eyes were huge and her blond hair had a hint of grey in it. Her skin was so pale it was almost transparent. With these features, the girl was like a fairy from a children's fairy tale. He would have mistaken her for one, if not for the fierce and icy glare she shot at him.

"You… you're that woman." She muttered, "Only someone Japanese would bow like that."

He blinked owlishly at her, before he digested her words. "Oh… you're a girl now?!"

"That's your biggest concern?!"

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

The salaryman he had tried and failed to help had reincarnated into a little girl by the name Tanya Degurechaff. Alberich wondered if this was the leniency that self-proclaimed God was talking about, being a boy with better physique was definitely a boon in era where gender equality was still on shaky ground. His feelings were still mixed about the thing between his legs though, and he wasn't going to ask Tanya about how an adult male felt living in a body of a little girl and missing an important part of their anatomy.

Apparently she had been watching him for quite some time, but was unsure if he was her fellow transmigrated soul since was so spaced out most of the time, more so than any other toddler in the orphanage and also late to speak fluently. He wasn't going to explain how his ADHD was carried over to this world, and hopefully he could control his young body better this time. Unlike modern times with abundant food he couldn't afford wasting energy from the meager sustenance the nuns gave them.

"We're in trouble." Reincarnated Salaryman Tanya informed him.

He nodded, "Yes… the food is terrible." He missed white bread, K-brot was heresy to bread lovers. "And the subpar hygiene in this orphanage could get us all sick."

Tanya gave Alberich a deadpan look, "I agree, but that's not the worst part of this second life."

What could be worse than their terrible living conditions and bleak future because the lack of education?

"In case you didn't pay attention to the military officer who came last week, this empire is a militaristic nation."

Okay, that didn't sound good, especially when the UN wasn't founded yet during this age of colonialism. "I already guessed that much." It was quite obvious since there was no way a country this big didn't have a powerful army to protect it. "So what?"

"The nuns are panicking because food prices are rising in the market, and that's why they give us less and less food lately." Tanya hinted.

Alberich's face paled with horror as it dawned on him the reason why food became more expensive. "War…" How could he forget, during this age humanity went through the industrial revolution but aside from becoming more civilized they also became greedier for resources! It still happened in the future of their old world, but it was at its worst in this one.

"Hh… you're quite smart, just not attentive."

Part of his ADHD. But he couldn't bring himself to get mad at her remark. "What do we do? Weak and defenseless orphans would just die when their country crumbles because of war." No offense to their caretakers, but if they needed children to work in the coal mines to support the war effort they were definitely unreliable.

"Saa…" Tanya shrugged. "Aside from hoping generous foster parents come to adopt us, I don't see how two four years old could survive a war."

He scoffed, "That's unlikely." Alberich had been returned once, he wasn't so optimistic he would get adopted again.

"Well, we're smarter than these kids and as ashamed as I am to admit it we're also the best looking children in this orphanage."

He honestly never paid attention to his face, but admittedly he did have an exotic look compared to other orphans in this place, much like Tankya did. "What are the odds of anyone coming to adopt a kid in this era?" They had been here for a couple of years and for this year alone they hadn't seen any potential foster parent coming.

"Nonexistent, especially with war looming on the horizon." Apparently she was of the same opinion on their chances of getting adopted. None. "If anything this place will get even more crowded."

War breeds orphans, and after soldiers they were the first to suffer once war hit. He wanted to cry at their premonition of suffering but what was the use of their tears? It wouldn't help them.

"It's all Being X's fault!" Tanya cursed, biting her thumb in frustration. "Cursing us with these bodies and war torn world is proof he's got no sense! I will prove it to that bastard, I will survive this world, I will defy him!"

…They were in enough trouble already, so why did she go out her way to invite more ire from the almighty entity? He wasn't sure if Being X/Old man was God, but looking for trouble with him was certainly a ticket to a life full of trial.

"Tanya… can we focus on making a living so we won't die a premature death?"

"Oh, right." Her blue eyes narrowed, "I almost forgot, but I'd like to confirm something first."

Her eyes on him made Alberich nervous. "Yes?"

She smiled at him, a bone chilling smile. "How likely would it be for you to push me onto a train track in the future?"

His green eyes widened in shock before he shook his head frantically, "I wouldn't do that! I admit I regret getting myself killed for recklessly trying to help you… but… I would never become someone like that!" So driven by hatred, throwing away his rationality and seeking to harm others. "He is disgusting!" The former adult gritted out.

Tanya frowned at him, her pose relaxed as she confirmed this boy wasn't her enemy. "Why did he disgust you so? It seems personal to you."

Whether it was by good or bad fate, this girl was the only human who could understand his situation in this world. So he had to make himself clear now. "My parents owned a company…" He began, his voice shook. "It's not a very big one but pretty successful, my parents are perhaps the best employers our employees could ever get… they were treated kindly, and even helped when they were having financial difficulty but…"

Generosity wasn't always repaid in kind, or even valued at all.

"One day an employee of ours stayed late in the factory, and got into an accident that crippled his hand for the rest of his life." Alberich continued his story. "By rights my parents had no obligation to him because he stayed outside working hours and he wasn't even a technician so he shouldn't be touching that kind of machine."

Her blue eyes narrowed to a slit. "But your parents' bleeding hearts prompted them to take responsibility for the idiot." If anything, Tanya had a suspicion this employee was attempting to steal spare materials and paid the price.

He nodded, "That man had a family, his wife used to work for my uncle…" They had employed both husband and wife for years, so there was some attachment. "My parents offered to pay for their son's school tuition and helped the father to find another job. We also paid his medical fees."

"In this age there was still someone like your parents… I am not sure if I should be touched or horrified."

Alberich took a deep breath, "Then he sued my parents for unsafe workplace and asked for more compensation."

Okay, she should be horrified then. Someone who was generous to their idiotic employee and then got sued for it. "That's beyond shameless of him."

"Of course it didn't go through." Because he got himself into that accident using unfamiliar equipment out of working hours.

"Don't tell me your parents still want to pay for his kids and compensate him with a new job."

A sour look appeared on his face. Obviously his previous set of parents weren't that gullible or stupid. "No, and he wasn't happy we broke our promise… so he attacked my father and got arrested."

Tanya rubbed her temple with a sigh, "I see…" His parent had been in her previous life's situation, but much luckier as they had managed to stay alive.

Indeed, with that kind of experience it was unlikely Alberich would push her onto train tracks anytime soon. She smirked inwardly, this boy wasn't stupid or naive but he seemed to be quite reserved and a tad gullible. "Well then Alberich, let's work together in this survive this world." Alberich's presence if anything was a proof that Being X was no real God if he subjected a believer to the same punishment as an atheist.

"Alright." Alberich looked unsure but also happy to have someone to rely on.

"By the way, do you still believe in Being X?"

"I don't believe he is my God." Alberich corrected.

...Whichever God Alberich worshiped and Tanya didn't believe in, wether Buddha or demon they would be a better deity than that senseless Being X.

* * *

 **Second edited chapter, please point out existing mistake but it would be a great help if you put corrected version in review so I can just copy paste and not bugging my beta about it.**


	3. 2nd Record (ED)

**2nd RECORD**

 **Making Money and Paving Path to Future**

Unlike their baby days, life as a child wouldn't pass in the blink of an eye since their cognition was clear enough to be on par with an adult by now.

You'd think coming from the future meant they could find ways to make easy money, but reality was never that forgiving. Human Resources and Interior Designer were the wrong professions to take advantage of a transmigration to another world.

An Agriculturist would be able to help their nuns improve their pathetic potato field. A doctor could heal people. Other jobs and other life experiences could help this orphanage. Unfortunately what they got was a history nerd whose work was firing people and a designer with an overactive imagination. He was despairing when Tanya asked whether he had regained his hand coordination, so they found some scrap paper and a pencil to test themselves.

His hand was wobbly, especially so since he was apparently now left-handed. However, he could still draw a decent sketch of a stuffed doll that could pass as drawn by an adult. "Not bad, what else can you do in your first life aside from making rooms look pretty?"

Alberich wanted to protest that a designer's job wasn't 'making rooms look pretty' but he was too happy to be indignant with their new discovery. "Uhm… I can play the piano?" His old self used to go to a music school as part of his therapy.

So that was the next thing they tried, and one of the Sisters was kind enough to help Alberich reach the instrument. He played slowly but it was amazing enough for a kid with short fingers and apparently no former training. The sister was elated! She asked if he wanted to learn in his spare time and in the future Alberich could play for Sunday mass.

"We can make money from this."

Alberich frowned, "Hey, you should contribute too!"

"Of course, I always earn my salary." Apparently Tanya used to play violin, and the reason was no other than her previous mother was a sucker for some advertisement that said music would help their child's brain development. That wasn't wrong, but Alberich remembered some poor kids being forced into it, and some of them happened to have no sense of rhythm whatsoever. The course became a nightmare for both the children and teacher.

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Desperation was the best motivator next to survival. It didn't take long for both Tanya and Alberich to regain their motoric skill in music. He felt a bit sick when Tanya, with her cutest look, asked the nuns if they could use their musical skill to get money. Tanya had no qualms using her cuteness to get what she wanted. When she made demands to not wear a dress but pants like him, the nuns were fooled into thinking that Tanya just wanted to wear the same thing her best friend did. Those gullible nuns… Tanya was unbearably smug that she got to wear pants unlike the other girls. Her shirt was still frilly though.

Since then, they would go to a big church in Berun to play for morning mass three times a week. Tanya wasn't so smug when she found out that kids like them couldn't play in a café or restaurant for petty cash and became even less smug every time they played in the church. She looked like she wanted to puke for performing music to worship Being X. But money was money and the chance to visit Berun was too good to pass up. Especially since Alberich managed to get some paper from the priest, and after the mass some impressionable young ladies and madams were more than happy to be his model and pay for the portrait he drew. Tanya couldn't draw, but their combined charm brought more customers.

Some even payed him to draw her.

It was impressive how Tanya endured being cuddled and cooed at by these ladies because she was so cute. Tanya made an interesting face when one of the noble ladies made a comment about their names, Alberich and Tanya. He had been wondering for a while if Tanya would ever find out about Sister Petronella's terrible naming sense. Or perhaps all Imperial ladies had no naming sense if they thought the names the orphans were bestowed with were sophisticated and wonderful.

"You already knew." Tanya growled at him on their way home.

"Eeh… I like Scandinavian mythology and watched Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream once." Alberich admitted sheepishly. "There's a good reason why the sisters sometimes call us 'Little Fairies.'" It wasn't just because of their looks.

Tanya was a variation of Tatiana, the fairy queen in Midsummer Night's dream, while Alberich was the Germanic variation of Oberon, the husband of Tatiana. Quite a cheesy name, and thankfully no children in the orphanage were literate or the both of them would be the butt of many jokes. Then again, the children were all too busy and hungry to spare energy for bullying when food wasn't involved. Tanya and Alberich weren't close to any of them, but most of the other orphans were grateful the two reincarnates put extra food on the table.

While they had to give most of their earnings to their orphanage, much to Tanya's ire, they still could set some aside for themselves.

"Just think of it as a lodging fee," suggested Alberich. It was easier work than what their fellow orphans had to do in the mines and fields, after all.

Overall they had a pretty decent life for two orphans, but Tanya worried about the increasing hostility from over the border and their own country's frustration with their adverse geopolitical situation. Even though Alberich didn't get politics and economics as well as Tanya did, he understood the precarious condition of the Empire as a young great power in the middle of a continent. There were enemies on all sides, and even though the Empire was stronger one on one even against another Great Power, their geographical location could easily turn them into the common enemy of their neighbors.

"This world won't necessarily turn out the same as ours, but the tension in the air is the same… all it takes is the straw that breaks the camel's back." Tanya analyzed. "There won't even be any prince assassinated out of nowhere… not to mention-"

Prior to the First World War and after the Industrial Revolution, humanity hadn't yet learned the true horrors of war fought with gunfire and shells. In the Empire, especially in the central region, all they knew was the occasional skirmish that happened at the border. Judging from how gungho the recruiter in Berun had been and the infatuated looks from housewives when watching an army parade Alberich had a suspicion that the Imperial citizens were still in the age of romantic and chivalrous war.

Alberich thought Tanya was worrying too much, even if they were in the age of territory expansion at least international laws made by ethicists already existed. As long as they were civilians, all they needed to worry about was poverty due to economic collapse, not a hail of bullets. Especially so since they lived in Berun, far away from the hostile borders.

Or so Alberich thought.

After getting dragged to this world by Tanya and a petty old deity he shouldn't have let his guard down.

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The day started a bit differently than usual as he and Tanya weren't told to put on their suits to go to church but were instead lined up with their fellow orphans for a health check-up. Alarms started to ring inside Alberich's mind while Tanya's eyes narrowed at the medical staff. They were from the military, why was the one conducting the checkup a military doctor?!

"Tanya… what kind of check up involves holding a stopwatch?" Or perhaps it was a pocket watch, from this far away that was all he could determine.

"Some sort of scanner maybe?" Tanya wondered, cupping her chin in a manner that was not child-like.

Alberich was getting uncomfortable in the long line of children, "I have a bad feeling…"

"Nonsense, you're an adult inside," Tanya asked in a deadpan tone, "What could be worse than an injection in this kind of setting?"

He was never afraid of injections, even as a kid. It took a while for him and Tanya to reach the doctor and nurse, and since he was right in front of Tanya he was the one who got examined first. It was standard procedure, like measuring his height, weight and other physical attributes. Nothing as thorough as in his previous world. Then came the strange exam where the nurse held up a circular device that, from up close, looked like some sort of steampunk art piece. The nurse smiled comfortingly as she put the medal like device on his neck and told him to focus on it.

As someone with ADHD, he was terrible at focusing. However there was something that drew his attention to the device, an energy that he never knew existed surged like waves from within. A miracle happened, or something close to it as the loose objects around him started to float. A soft glow was emitted by the strange orb he wore. Alberich was enthralled, and his mind willed the ink bottle, pens, pocket watch and thermometer to dance in the air.

 _'Magic… so this is what he meant by an unscientific world!'_ Alberich couldn't stop himself from smiling, as someone with an overactive imagination he had always wished to have magic. It was a dream come true to him!

"Ooh… his magic capacity and output is off the charts for a child his age." The doctor looked bewildered but also elated. "He would be a fine mage for our Empire."

His mind came to a halt at that, and together with it the floating objects all froze. The nurse paid it no mind and gathered the objects Alberich had hung in the air and put them back on the table. Everyone was moving around him but Alberich wasn't paying attention, but once he was back to reality the doctor was already filling a form with his name, age, gender and origin. If he read it correctly it was an examination form for magical potential that was issued by 'The General Staff Office of the Mage Bureau' of the Fatherland.

Alberich didn't know who led him out of line to make way for Tanya, but he snapped back to reality when Tanya –the competitive girl that she was- made a show with launching her surrounding objects into the ceiling. The pens and thermometers were now lodged in the ceiling and it made for terrible decoration in Alberich's opinion as a designer.

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It was only after everyone was done that Sister Petronella took the two of them aside and explained what the military medical staff were there for. It was as Alberich feared, they had come to scout for potential conscripts and orphans were an easy target with no family to protect them. This was especially true for children born with mana in their bodies; they were rare commodities that made up not even one percent of the child population of the Empire. It was also not an exaggeration to say that the Empire's military superiority was largely due to their advanced magical sciences. Mages were a resource that it never hurt to have more of.

Or rather, their scarcity made sure that the Empire would never have enough of them to suit its needs...

In short, this damned expansionist and militaristic empire wouldn't let him go. How old would he be when the Empire decided he would be ripe for the taking and conscript him by force? Even though child protection services didn't exist yet, surely the government was above sending their lovely children to war?

"It's okay, Alberich… Tanya… I am sure we can find a scholarship for music or art for you. Both of you are intelligent children, there're plenty of paths for you." Sister Petronella said with a soothing voice, but the trembling hands that held Tanya and Alberich's shoulders said she didn't believe that either.

"We will protect you." Sister Anna added, her fingers that crossed in prayer were even more obvious. What could these powerless nuns do?

A militaristic country like the Empire didn't need painters or musicians, they needed soldiers and mages. Alberich appreciated the sister's attempt to console him, but the die was cast for himself and Tanya. In a few years they would be taken away and whipped to shape for military duties. In his previous life there had been a foreigner co-worker who had returned to his homeland to finish his quota of compulsory national service. He had lamented about it jokingly in front of everyone, but Alberich believed everything he said about crappy rations, early morning wakeup calls and killer drill instructors.

Maybe he should save more money like Tanya suggested and make a run to another country like… the Republic? Nope, it was the Empire's main enemy. Legadonia seemed to be a nice and small country but he disliked the cold weather. Rus Union, nope- he would never step foot into a Communist country. Dacia was also a no-no, that small state could be gobbled up at anytime by other countries. So maybe Iltoa kingdom? But he hated their food... Speaking of food, there was an alternate Japan here by the name of the Akitsukushima Empire, and it was quite far on the east and only had a dispute with the Rus Union.

"Maybe we should go…"

"Indeed we should."

Alberich beamed, Tanya rarely agreed with the plans she deemed cowardly and uninspirational. "Really?" The next few years would be tough without money but viva miso and rice!

Tanya smirked and Alberich felt goosebumps appear all over his skin at how demonic she made her angelic face look. "We should just volunteer now, and become military mages…"

WHAT?!

"Hurry, we have to catch the officers before they leave and tell them… Arranging an interview would be a hassle otherwise later."

"Tell them what?" Alberich asked with dread in his voice.

"What patriotic future mages we are~" Tanya was almost singing this as she let this blatant lie roll off her tongue. "We're volunteering to defend the Fatherland, Sir!" She already sounded like an enthusiastic recruit.

Alberich stomped his foot down, "No-no-no… how is it a brilliant idea to join the military when war can break out at any moment, Tanya?! Are you crazy?!" Wasn't she the rationalistic and pragmatic one here?

Tanya sighed, "So you'd rather be dawdling in this place and drafted by force in a few years?"

"Uuh, no?"

"And there's no way you can make enough money to move to the Japan of this world before your time is up."

It was a wishful thinking indeed, he admitted. "Unfortunately…"

She crossed her arms, "Now… no matter how poor your knowledge about the military is, could you guess how conscripted recruits would be treated in an army?"

Alberich frowned at that, "Uhm… terribly?" It was a choice to defend your country, but patriotic superiors would be less sympathetic to those who get dragged by force. Comrades would assume they were cowards, and then they would be used as cannon fodder. "I guess?"

"It's a given, the upper brass in the military is made up of people who choose to be soldiers. They would favor their own people more and be biased against conscripts." Tanya pointed out.

The red headed boy groaned, "So you want us to volunteer so we can get better treatment?" Becoming military wunderkind would surely give them preferential treatment.

"Exactly!" The azure eyed girl looked smug. "If we will get conscripted anyway, it would be better to volunteer and receive officer training."

Officer training, which meant they won't automatically be foot soldiers? This sounded like a sensible idea coming from Tanya, but Alberich was still skeptical. "I see…"

She could tell he wasn't entirely convinced, "And also! Once we get on this career path, as long as we work hard I am sure we could live an easy life in the rear echelon!"

"Oooh…" Hook

"I understand if you don't like the idea of working as a soldier, but we can always quit once we make enough money to pay for school and get a better career!"

"Ahaaa…" Line!

"Not to mention, we're kids! The Empire isn't above using child soldiers, but surely they care about their reputation a lot so they won't post kids like us to dangerous places!"

The Empire is certainly a very proud country. "That… doesn't sound so bad." Alberich conceded.

And sinker!

"Great! Now, let's go and tell them we volunteer to protect our Fatherland!"

Alberich would remember this day vividly for the rest of his life, and years later under hails of bullets the red haired Aerial Mage was full of regret. He wished he had shoved his foot down Tanya's throat that day for the worst idea she had ever come up with in this life. First she dragged him in front of a moving train. Then to another world. And now… to war.

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 **This is an edited version by , while it's impossible to reupload for every tiny mistake... if you point and put a corrected version in review it would be a great help!**


	4. 3rd Record (ED)

**3rd RECORD**

 **Back to School: A Student's life.**

 **Unified year, 1921**

Their caretakers were upset when they left, but as adults in children's bodies neither Tanya nor Alberich felt guilt for leaving. It was never in their plan to stay, and their upbringing from their previous life made it uncomfortable for them to live without an education and a proper job. Alberich also agreed that Tanya was right about the military, there was no point in trying to escape. It would be wise to take advantage of this chance for a better quality of life.

"Why did you volunteer now?"

When asked why he volunteered now instead of waiting for a few years, Alberich could only answer in a solemn voice. "I want to fight for a better future." For himself, but he left that open to their interpretation. When he asked Tanya what she had told them, he was bewildered by her blunt honesty. The red haired boy wondered if he should tell her that when coming from the mouth of a little girl that kind of statement was a bit misleading. Won't the recruitment staff think Tanya was a sociopath or something to say she had no other choice but to join the military but not explain why?

Alberich soon saw that his fear was unfounded when their documentation passed the screening. Maybe the officers in charge were like the overpaid government worker in his previous world, they didn't pay much attention to petty details like Tanya's reason for joining them. Then again 'A' tier magical aptitude was a more attractive quality than any number of degrees from their old world.

And so, their lives as future soldiers of the Empire began.

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 **Officer Cadet School, Berun.**

Alberich Beilschmidt was raised in a strict household in his previous life, so living in Officer Cadet School with a list of regulations taller than he was wasn't much of a shock. Tanya seemed to have had a similar upbringing so it didn't take her long to adapt to the school either. However, Tanya couldn't be too smug about everything going as planned, because she hadn't calculated that the physical component of the OCS curriculum wasn't tailored for eight year old children. The training was a torture for his young body, and even more so to Tanya, who was a girl.

Alberich took some small comfort from this, as coming to this school was Tanya's idea so she was merely reaping what she had sown.

Overall the OCS wasn't a hell on earth like he had feared, at least it didn't seem as bad as a colleague in his previous life had described. In fact it was better than their orphanage! It had abundant food, a clean bed and productive learning environment. Tanya was a bit luckier with her sleeping arrangement, being a rare female cadet she got a whole room to herself while Alberich had to share with three other guys.

His roommates were pretty amused by his presence. Alberich realized he was in danger of being turned into the wimpy kid everyone teased and looked down upon.

One sob story later Alberich managed to snuff out any attempts by his older comrades to bully him. In his previous life he had hated fishing for sympathy by using his past. In this life, following Tanya's example, he had no qualms abusing his young age and soft looks for an advantage. There was no family to protect him, and he held no delusions that Tanya would be generous enough to help him for no immediate benefit.

"Nice to meet you, let's work hard together to protect the Fatherland!" The other volunteers dissolved into tears in the face of his childlike patriotism. Though he was a little worried that these soldiers were a bit too gullible.

The classes in OCS were enjoyable, and as former Japanese students used to fighting tooth and nail in order to gain access to a good school, Alberich and Tanya had excellent note taking and memorizing skills in comparison to their peers. Although when it came to their strategy lessons Alberich had to bow to Tanya, whose head was full of war strategies from their previous world.

"Make a break at one point to disengage and cover the retreat of the main force." She answered promptly when asked, making the rest of their classmates grumble with envy.

 _'Just how many hours had she spent playing RTSs in her previous life?'_ While Alberich made do with his meager knowledge and what he could scrape together from the library he still fell short. Then again, he didn't particularly want to compete with Tanya in that field.

"Very good." The instructor gestured for Tanya to sit back and turned his attention to Alberich, who was right beside Tanya. "Beilschmidt! An offensive against an enemy with numerical superiority! Assume your side has suffered great losses and your only option is to decapitate your enemy leadership."

Which meant nothing else mattered as long as he took the enemy general?

"What kind of terrain are we facing in this battle, Sir?" He asked. Something he had learned from Tanya was that answering open questions like this was dangerous without trying to confirm more variables such as their arsenal, terrain and the weather.

"You will be operating in hilly, forested terrain!"

Plenty of cover then, Alberich noted. "How about the weather and the forces at my disposal, Sir?"

"It's raining." The instructor seemed to be being lenient to Alberich. "You have a battalion of mages and infantry under your command."

Tanya was smirking beside him, after all this sounded just like how one of the greatest warlords of Japan achieved his greatest military triumph! He didn't rush to answer. "Using the forested area I will have the Aerial mages distract them with a bombardment, making as much ruckus as possible to give the illusion of a large force in hiding. Then feign a strategic withdrawal to draw in the enemies." He continued, "When our enemies focus their attention on the forested area, the infantry will circumvent the enemy's force and attack them from the rear. Utilizing the terrain and weather the smaller force can decapitate the enemies in a surprise attack."

The instructor was mulling over his answer before nodding. "Very well! Next-"

Alberich composed himself as he sat down, "Phew…"

"Taking notes from Oda Nobunaga, hm?" Tanya muttered from beside him, her eyes glancing at him briefly before going back to their instructor, who was questioning another of their classmates.

The red headed boy shrugged, "Like you didn't do the same from Shimazu." It was the advantage of going through a full school career of history lessons plus the days he spent obsessed with Japan's most famous warlord because of an anime he watched once. "By the way…"

"Hm?"

"Do you notice the man standing at the back?" He was dressed in an officer's uniform and coat, a pretty young man. He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest as he observed their class.

Tanya crossed her hands in front of her lips so the instructor couldn't see them chatting. "The Officer Personnel Department is inspecting our class, I think." So, Tanya's previous life profession for the military. "Ignore him and do our best to impress."

Alberich sighed. Tanya and her ambition for promotion. For someone who worked mostly because of his passion in his previous life, it was a bit unnerving. Then again, in this life he was here for the same reason. "It's just that… I can feel his eyes on us." Due to his previous experience as a SEN child, Alberich was very sensitive to attention directed upon himself.

"How is that a bad thing?" To Tanya, getting attention from someone who was inspecting their class was a good thing. Especially since she was showing her competence just now.

"He might think we shouldn't be here…"

Tanya's eyes narrowed. She was no expert in psychology, but after living for years with her fellow reincarnate it was easy to tell the boy had issues carried on from his previous life. He disliked attention, and tend to think negatively about it. He didn't shy away from compliments and had a drive to do well, but he was also easily discouraged by an instructor's negative assessment. There was also his tendency to lose focus and space out. Another strange behavior was the occasional boundless energy he struggled to control, and usually he would resort to doing laps of the training ground to burn it off. People around them assumed Alberich was just being diligent, but Tanya knew Alberich hated exercise. At least physical exercise wasn't something the former-woman would do out of their own free will.

"What nonsense…" Tanya grumbled, "Just leave him be."

Then there was his talent in magic. When it came to spells and magical combat, Alberich was a prodigy in the making. In terms of mana capacity and output, both of them were equals. Some people wondered if they were siblings. It wasn't magical aptitude that pushed Alberich ahead of Tanya though.

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 **OCS, Mage's training ground 03**

"Whoaa…" His roommate, Ludwig whistled. "That's so cool! So we can extend the Mage Knife longer than our dagger?"

Alberich nodded, his mana humming as he willed it to change length from as long as a katana to as short as the military issued dagger they used. "Uhm, I think it would make a good surprise in melee combat."

Ludwig nodded sagely, "Man, I am so envious. The Instructor said because children have flexible minds and better imaginations, spells come easier to you."

Another roommate of his, Wolfgang, wound his arm around Alberich's tiny shoulders. "Or so our instructor's pet theory says, but personally I think it's because you like drawing… so your spell imaging is better than ours. Maybe we should take drawing classes from you?"

Strangely enough for Alberich, it was easier to get along with guys in an army than teenage girls in a high school. He didn't even have to go out his way to be sociable! "The fee is expensive you know."

"Aww, no friend's discount?"

"Aha ha ha ha!"

 **BOOM!**

"Degurechaff, artillery spell… A!"

"Thank you, sir!"

Tanya had just performed a devastating spell that taken out a huge chunk of their training ground, and her rifle was nowhere in sight. It was the bane for the two child soldiers, the rifles were too heavy and their bodies too frail to withstand the recoil after shooting. The first time Tanya and Alberich tried wielding a rifle in Marksmanship Training both of them dislocated their shoulders after shooting once. It was a painful experience and if not for their talent in magic they would have been removed from the training program.

Ludwig hummed, "Degurechaff is also amazing, as expected of a rare A class mage like you. Though…"

"She never shown any inclination of freely manipulating spells like you do, Alberich." Wolfgang added.

Ludwig, the brasher one of the pair added. "Is she lacking in imagination or what?"

That's right… the only reason Alberich was the top of this class was simply because, in his previous life, he never grew out of his overactive imagination. In fact, if he wasn't so busy with grueling school work in his previous life Alberich had a feeling he would have turned chuunibyou.

He would take what he could get regardless. Scoring some points by showing more alternative spells in OCS would be a wonderful addition to his resume.

"You'd think girls would have better imagination than boys, my little sis certainly has the strangest one like her imaginary unicorn pet." Ludwig grumbled.

Because inside, Tanya was an old man whose imagination would be the farthest thing from glitter and sugar.

"But Degurechaff is undoubtedly a better flier than all of us combined..." Wolfgang pointed out. "Those acrobatic skills... is it because she is a girl?"

Alberich himself was just a decent flier, while he could do all the standard aerial maneuvers from the book... he would never be able to reach Tanya's level. Maybe he should be a marine mage instead... then again, even in his former life, he was no good with roller coasters. So it took a while for him to get used to flying with magic.

One of their mage instructors approached them, his smile widening when he saw what Alberich was doing. "That's a smoother transition of mana shaping than before…"

"Thank you, sir…" Alberich saluted, "I think there will be problems with the blade if we try to extend it any further…"

The instructor nodded at that, "Hm… try to compute an optical guidance spell. Inform me when you want to experiment with it."

"Yes, Sir! Thank you for your help, Sir!"

"It's always a joy to see future Imperial Mages taking the initiative to widen our arsenal." This young instructor had been very supportive of Alberich since the boy came under his wing. His name was Elric von Einzbern and he was a mage and noble, albeit not a Junker. Alberich heard he was the second son of a marquis equivalent in the Empire. "It's about time… The Empire is hailed to be at the forefront of magical technology, but we haven't updated our spells in the last ten years, just our computation jewels…"

Ludwig protested, "To be fair Sir, most of us with C Magical Aptitude don't have spare mana to experiment Sir!" They also had been strictly warned to not copy anything Alberich tried by their instructor. Most of the alteration on basic spells Alberich did was either too mana intensive or magically unstable, the boy himself was under close observation by a mage instructor when experimenting with new ideas.

"That's what practice is for, First Classer Ludwig!" Elric shouted as he gave a not so gentle slap to the cadet's back.

Alberich winced, _'That looks like it hurt! He didn't use mana on that, did he?'_

Still, life was getting good for both of them even with growing tension in all sides. Alberich prayed that they could have this peace for as long as possible. He wished this world would never be burned by the flames of a World War.

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 **OMAKE: Certain Instructor's Muse**

Hello everyone! My name is Elric Alphonse von Einzbern* and I am the second son in my family and I have absolutely no intention to help my older brother manage our land. Seriously, it was a boring job to be my family's slave. Fortunately for me I am one of the lucky minority in the Empire to be blessed with B class magical aptitude, so I packed up my luggage and ran off to OCS as soon as I was of age. My parents are still vexed, judging from how many times the words 'disgrace' and 'ungrateful' appeared in my father's last letter and how my mother cries rivers whenever she sees me as if I will drop dead for being in the mage corps. Seriously, their fear is unwarranted. Their child just wanted to pave his own path not kill himself.

Much to my exasperation my father, under my mother's urging, pulled some strings so that I was dragged to the rear after not even a year on the Eastern Border. So now I have a nifty job as a mage instructor for my old school. It's a fun job though not overly exciting, at least until the recruitment folk got their hands on a pair of eight year old kids with immense magical aptitude. I am not sure what kind of messed up parents sent their children to OCS when they should be playing with their friends in primary school, but they are quite skinny so maybe it was to reduce the number of mouths to feed at home?

My superior gave me the stink eye for that comment.

I quickly shut up when my superior told me that they were orphans, so there are no parents to stop them from coming. They come here of their own free will like me, but I can't help but think there's something wrong with this picture when these kids volunteered to defend our homeland… Or perhaps our army is greedy enough to draft even kids.

The other instructors said they should treat the kids, Alberich Beilschmidt and Tanya Degurechaff, like any other cadets and that they were to receive no special treatment. I suppose that's how the Imperial army works, being a meritocracy and all.

I steeled myself to follow that order, but during the Marksmanship Training that I supervise that resolve quickly crumbled at the first sign of trouble.

"Beilschmidt and Degurechaff dislocated their shoulders! MEDIIIIIIC!" So much for treating these kids like everyone else, I don't remember ever running so fast and screaming at the top of my lungs when I was on the front line. Whose bright idea was it to give these kids a seven pounds rifle to wield?

I am not sure I should be relieved or unnerved that neither Beilschmidt nor Degurechaff broke down crying like children their age should. They just grit their teeth and hissed as they waited for the medical staff to fix their shoulders, and only shouted in pain during the most painful part. It's a normal reaction for an adult, but not for children. Looking at their brave faces when enduring their injuries, I decided as the youngest instructor in OCS I should try to take an older brother's role for them.

So I started to sneak in candies for them, giving these kids some sweet taste of life or something. Beilschmidt seems amused by this, while Degurechaff had a strange smile on her face as if she wanted to scowl but couldn't. I felt a bit sheepish and chastised as Beilschmidt patronized me with a bright smile, his cheeks dimpled as he thanked me for the candies.

That… certainly didn't look like how a kid should react to sweets. Beilschmidt certainly did try to act like one, while Degurechaff just tried to be polite. However, why do I feel like that one time I gave my share of cake to my beautiful aunt I had a crush on as a child? Like an adult cajoling a kid?

Fortunately I haven't lost their respect, and their talent in my lesson helps me to get closer to them. Well, with Beilschmidt he is easy to get along with because the kid doesn't act like an adult all the time. His curiosity for magic is decidedly childlike to me. I'm confused as to why Degurechaff doesn't share the same enthusiasm about magic.

Magic is magic, it's the most awesome thing since sliced bread!

Although… Degurechaff did show some enthusiasm whenever her spell blew up magnificently. Her smile was euphoric as she look at the devastation when she thought nobody was looking, I am not sure what to make of that. I like to see things get blown up by magic myself like any other aerial mage but…it's worrying to see that smile on the face of a little girl.

So I decide to leave Degurechaff be and focus on Beilschmidt instead, the boy looked safer than her any day. The boy is great to come up with fresh ideas for a spell and its application. Perhaps it's because he is still young so his mind is more flexible. If he isn't in OCS I think he has a great future as a magic researcher.

It's definitely never boring watching the boy come up with a new idea for experiment. Like today, Beilschmidt had an idea to put up a shield not around a mage's body but something else. It's a simple idea but one no mage in the Imperial army had thought of because a mage's shell is, obviously, to protect themselves. Besides, most didn't have the mana to spare for anything else.

Beilschmidt had a can of rationed apple pie on the table, its contents already in my stomach. It confused me a little why Beilschmidt wanted an empty can. If his objective was just putting a defensive shell around the can, it shouldn't have mattered whether the can was empty or not. I soon found out why.

It took a while for the boy to put up the sphere-like shield around the can, floating it a few inches above the ground.

I am about to applaud him when Beilschmidt clenched his fist and glared at the contained can. The shield started to shrink, and the pressure slowly but steadily crumpled the can inside. The can didn't look like a cylinder anymore by the time he was done with it, and I gaped like an idiot at the thoroughly squeezed piece of tin on the table. So the shell was altered to be inside out, to trap an object inside instead of isolating it from outside? If we can trap our enemies inside then-

"If this amount of force is needed to crush a can, how much force would we need to crush a human then?" Beilschmidt muttered to himself, the boy seemed to forget I was sitting beside him. Something I was used to by now was how when he was focused on something, Beilschmidt would forget everything around him. He might not even notice if this lab was bombarded by artillery.

My mind went blank at the true objective Beilschmidt has in mind for this spell application. I heard him muttering something about sand, ninja and mimicking but I was a little engrossed at the gory image of what a human would look like if it was like the can.

On second thought, there's nothing safe about the two kids who volunteered to join our army. For either Degurechaff and Beilschmidt… but-

"Sir, I need your help with the interference spell!" Beilschmidt pleaded with his green eyes wide and shining with exuberance.

"Okay!" I gave him a thumbs up. "Off to the lab, we go!"

I'm already a sucker for this cute kid, crazy or not.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Fourth Edited chapter...by**


	5. 4th Record (ED)

**4th RECORD**

 **Countdown to Graduation, Breaking the Mask**

 **Unified Year, 1923**

It felt like just yesterday that they were a pair of fourth years in this school, but before he knew it they were already the most senior cadets in OCS. They had their Officer Candidate training examination a few days ago, which was quite elaborate since it escalated into a night long infiltration mission in a 'rebel infested area.' They even met a group of haggard looking soldiers in an isolated base. He never knew that OCS would go that far to set up the simulation of a real battle.

Though, the look their instructors gave them was a little off. They had only just finished their mission in the nick of time and it was a difficult exercise, so shouldn't they be more lenient and not expect them to exceed all expectations or something? Not that Alberich cared much about ranking, not as much as Tanya did at any rate. As long as he wasn't assigned to be cannon fodder he would be satisfied!

And he certainly had no wish for an early graduation before his tenth birthday!

Stupid Empire and their program acceleration efficacy! Due to increasing tensions on their Northern and Western borders, OCS had decided to fast track their top students through the program to get more soldiers out in the field. Tanya and Alberich, who were ranked on the top in second and fifth place respectively, obviously got themselves in this honored predicament. It was something Alberich didn't need, after all they were already too young for OCS and now he was rushed to graduate even earlier?! He wanted to stay for two years like everyone else! Not graduating in a few months!

Tanya didn't seem to be as concerned as he was, in fact she thought they had to write their graduation thesis as soon as they could to score as many points as possible with it. So Tanya began writing her thesis on Logistical Distribution and advised Alberich to do the same.

Alberich was in turmoil behind his wall of books and research notes. "This is plagiarization."

"Indeed, but for the sake of a safe and easy life in the rear, just keep going. No one is going to sue you for copyright here, Al." Tanya, who was also barricading herself behind books and paper, said blithely.

The redhead was full of guilt but with his life at stake he swallowed his pride and forced his shaking hand to continue writing his thesis on a system for more efficient base construction, just shamelessly copying designs from the future.

"Don't forget to highlight the mobility and efficiency of your Modular Forward Base System."

"Right…" Alberich still felt terrible. "Do we have to?"

Tanya snorted, "We're both talented mages with huge mana capacities. If you don't display this much knowledge in support services like logistics the army will just treat you as a weapon to point at our enemies." And their path to a safe future would be closed.

Being used as a weapon on the frontline was the last thing he wanted to happen. "Uugh…" For survival's sake he had to suck it up, life wasn't kind enough for him to allow his conscience to get in the way. There was a War College for senior officers after OCS, but to get there they had to be at least a First Lieutenant. He wasn't sure how long a Warrant Officer needed before they could be promoted to First Lieutenant, but foot soldiers would be stationed on the frontline without fail.

There were only some skirmishes at the border now, not a full blown war, but it felt like the clock was ticking down to the dreaded global war. The question was would they manage to get to the rear before that age of madness came?

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For the last few months of their student life in OCS, both Tanya and Alberich did their best to make their last mark on the school. Alberich right away refused the offer to be an instructor for the fourth year cadets because he wasn't suited to being a drill sergeant; yelling and whipping new recruits into shape. Usually cadets like him couldn't object to orders from above but fortunately, their mage instructor already offered him an assistant position.

Tanya on the other hand took the offer with relish, and Alberich feared for the new recruits. It didn't take long for Alberich to learn Tanya was a domineering person with a superiority complex, and that was why he didn't put up much of a fight when Tanya suggested anything. For better or worse, Tanya was the only person who knew the real him in this world so he didn't want to make an enemy out of her.

Alberich was sure Tanya could be a drill sergeant, but he wasn't sure giving her permission to lord over the juniors was a good idea. What were their instructors thinking?

…On second thought they most likely thought that Tanya being a kid was even more reason to assign her this duty. First, Tanya had to learn how to earn the respect of her subordinates even with the handicap of being a little girl. Second, these cadets would have a harder time enduring orders from a kid and respecting her as their superior.

 _'I still think it's not a good idea.'_

He made time to take a peek on the first briefing on the training ground. Tanya made a bizarre picture, pacing back and forth on the podium in front of much older recruits. Of all the things to say she had told them to rethink their decision to join OCS and quit within forty eight hours to save her the hassle.

"Disease prevention?" Alberich echoed what Tanya had called the job of a drill sergeant. "That's certainly what HR does for a company in a sense…" He looked up with a sigh, thinking that Tanya was still attached to her previous profession. He just hoped she won't go too far and earn resentment from these rookies. "Hm?"

At a good vantage point to oversee the briefing, a third floor window, was the familiar figure of the Personnel Department officer. _'He's been paying an awful lot of attention to us lately.'_ Alberich had never seen the guy up-close but knew him just by his silhouette. He hoped this HR equivalent wasn't stalking them.

He put the observer out of his mind, Alberich was more concerned about these new cadets. He was standing behind Tanya's podium, hidden in the shadow of the main school building. He couldn't see clearly their reactions to having a girl of Tanya's age act as an instructor, but to Alberich the atmosphere could be summarized as 'bewildered.'

Would there be one or two idiots who felt frustrated with Tanya? Of course there would be: the kinds of people who would disregard an order from a superior just because they were younger. There were people who couldn't stand Tanya if she was an adult male, let alone a little girl.

"I just wish that any idiots that pop up won't get on her nerves too much. And that Tanya won't go overboard with her drill sergeant routine." She had this weird habit of falling so deep into her role as a soldier that she would really forget herself. It was weird, because she acted like she was a soldier all the time. "Well, I hold no delusions that Tanya is normal in the first place…"

So he continued to worry endlessly.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **A few days later...**

The mage instructor who was marking the paper tests beside him cleared his throat, most likely because he noticed the boy wasn't paying attention to his writing. "Beilschmidt, stop worrying about Degurechaff. She will be fine…"

Elric von Einzbern was a very laidback guy who didn't bother putting up his tough façade for his assistant. To him Alberich was more like a junior than a student, as he had deemed that he had taught everything he could to the red haired boy.

Alberich just smiled sheepishly, "Actually, it's not Tanya I'm worried about…"

Elric snorted, knowing very well from Alberich's passing remarks what the boy was talking about. Contrary to Tanya's model student reputation and appearance, she could be a temperamental and harsh disciplinarian. "Nah~ Degurechaff might rough them up a bit but I'm sure they will be just peachy by the end of the year." Elric waved off Alberich's worry.

He hoped so too. "Maybe they'll just suffer from bruised bodies and egos..."

Alberich had finished both his thesis for base design and one of the original spells he'd been working on with time to spare, the latter was mostly because of his instructor's generous help, so that paper would be under their name. As soon as the final paperwork had been completed Alberich rushed to the training ground hoping that the poor fourth year cadets had survived. Unfortunately, what he witnessed upon arriving at the training ground was far from pretty.

Tanya had become a drill sergeant from hell.

"Move maggots!" She roared as she gently tapped a cadet on the back. An instant later he was writhing on the ground. "Why are you twitching like a disgusting worm in the dirt?!"

Was that a neural interference spell she used just now? The modified one that he had taught her the other day, one that not only inflicted pain but also caused the victim to spasm? A morbid part of Alberich's brain thought that the spell worked even better than he had anticipated. The cadet was seizing like an electrocuted cartoon character from his past life. Mostly though he was horrified that his fear had been realized, that Tanya was going overboard!

"The mistake was mine for assuming you had a brain in the first place, my apologies." Tanya's tone was apologetic but no one would believe it for a second.

Does she realize how terrible she looks and sounds right now? Drill Sergeant or no, the words she spouted about someone's rear end shouldn't come out from a little girl's mouth! Being who he was in past life, Alberich was almost overcome with the urge to wash Tanya's mouth with soap.

"That's enough brat! Shut your trap, what do you take me for! Like hell I'm obeying-" He never finished his sentence as Tanya used another spell to inflict the pain without any visible wound. "GYAAAAH!"

This guy was definitely an idiot to pick a fight with a mage. Alberich himself didn't have to fear bullying simply by being at the top of his magic combat class. That mages weren't to be crossed was something quickly learnt by most cadets. The pained screams of the idiot who had gotten on Tanya's nerves told him he had to get both perpetrator and victim out of this mess quickly.

When Tanya pulled out her mage knife, Alberich panicked and immediately cast a defensive shell spell on her target. He thought that he wouldn't be able to make the shield in time, but against all odds he managed and Tanya's blade bounced off the spherical barrier.

"Al…" Tanya growled as she turned to face him. "What the hell are you doing?"

When in public Tanya only called him by his nickname, not by his surname and rank, if she was furious. Alberich however had no time to worry about Tanya's temper as he saw that the Personnel Department officer who had been stalking them was rushing over with an ashen face. "The jokes gone overboard!" He exclaimed in the cheeriest voice he could muster, "You get too enthusiastic when drilling them, Cadet Degurechaff! Aha ha ha!" Then, swiftly, he grabbed the dazed cadet on the ground and patted his head. "No hard feelings right, Junior?"

The man promptly passed out, seemingly making a fool of himself.

"Too much excitement from training, I see!" Alberich was all smiles, as if he hadn't just put the cadet to sleep with a spell in front of everyone.

Tanya was about to ask what he was playing at when she felt her left foot stomped on by Alberich's right and her head pulled closer to his. "What the-"

"Do you have any idea that you look like you've lost your mind?!" Alberich hissed in her ear, "Now shut up before you get sent to a mental hospital!"

Her blue eyes went wide at that. She had thought that Alberich, with his bleeding heart, would have admonished her for being cruel. Instead he had scolded her for looking insane. She assumed he was exaggerating, but the enraged shout of the approaching officer told her otherwise.

"What do you think you are doing?!"

Alberich and Tanya quickly saluted their superior, "Disciplinary action against a disrespectful cadet, Sir!"

"Permission to bring this junior cadet to the medical wing, Sir!" Alberich requested shamelessly, "And my classmate Degurechaff, she is feeling unwell, Sir!"

This was the first time Alberich had seen the man who stalked them up close, but he didn't take his time to really look at his face. The man seemed bewildered, but was convinced because of Tanya's red tinged complexion. It was easy for a mage to control their body temperature, but no one seemed to have thought of using it to fake illness. It was something Alberich had tried on himself before to skip a class with an annoying instructor.

The dark haired man was unable to make a decision, "Ah-" Obviously their response wasn't what he was expecting to get.

Fortunately, his favorite instructor of all time, Elric came to his rescue. "Beilschmidt! Go take Degurechaff and that cadet to the hospital!"

"Thank you, Sir!" No one thought about how strange it was for a little boy to bring a girl and a young adult to the hospital. Alberich didn't think either, he dragged Tanya with one hand and used telekinesis to lift the unconscious cadet and then fled, leaving the flabbergasted audience in his wake.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

Looking at the diminishing figures of the two petite mages and their floating victim, the inspector couldn't help but rub the bridge of his nose. "What was that?"

"Ha! You look like you're doing well, Rerugen!" Elric von Einzbern gave the man's back a hearty slap, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Einzbern…" The Chief of Personnel affair, Erich von Rerugen, turned to face his former classmate. "So do you, and I see you still act nothing like the noble you should be. So carefree." Then again, it was to be expected of a man who was recorded as saying he'd rather be the Empire's soldier than be his family's errand boy.

Elric snorted, "Yeah, yeah. By the way… I have been watching for a while and it seems you're interested in our pair of prodigies."

He sighed, "Tanya Degurechaff and Alberich Beilschmidt…" They were the two cadets that had caught his attention the most from the last three inspections. Their age aside they stood out for their outstanding abilities.

"In spite of their young age, they're never less of a soldier than anyone in their year…" Einzbern was very proud, especially of his own protégé, Alberich. "Even before graduating, Degurechaff is already combat ready… as for Beilschmidt, he is more of a rough diamond. He is more suited to the training department, teaching and researching! But, he is no slouch in combat either, even though he is not as good as Degurechaff."

Rerugen could see that. Degurechaff was obviously the more combat oriented officer. She would do well on the front line, especially since she was also very attentive of the worsening situation at their borders. Beilschmidt on the other hand was like his former classmate had said. He could be a decent front line officer with more hands-on experience, but the Mage Corps could benefit more with someone like him on the rear for support in developing spells. That was only if this tentative peace lasted though, since war could break out at any moment which would send both of them to the front lines.

However…

"You're right. But, those two are…" There was no problem with their ability, even their age was just a trivial number. "Abnormal."

His companion glared at him, "Hey! That's my protégé you're calling abnormal! Sure, these kids are a bit weird, but in a good way!"

"How is that different from my 'abnormal' and why are you so angry on their behalf?" It didn't escape Rerugen that Einzbern was more partial to Beilschmidt, and defended Degurechaff as an extension of the boy.

Einzbern sighed, "Rerugen… they're orphans, and apparently they came from quite a poor orphanage." The mage continued, "The recruitment folks told me these two worked to put more food on the table for everyone there. I am not sure myself what makes them tick, but… be a bit more lenient in your assessment of them." It was strange to hear his friend pleading for a pair of kids, Elric must really have been fond of Beilschmidt.

He would reserve his judgment, but he wouldn't be impartial just because Einzbern asked. "Okay… so, what's up with these children? Close friends or siblings perhaps?"

Einzbern looked taken aback that Rerugen would inquire for more information and not just drop the subject. "Well… I am unsure myself, I guess they're friends that are... sorta sibling-like at times."

Rerugen had known his co-worker of his for years, and 'indecisive' wasn't the word to describe Elric von Einzbern. This was the guy who dropped all of his noble rank and status to come to the Imperial army as soon as he was of age. "Sort of?"

"Maturity wise…" Einzbern trailed off. "Degurechaff is the more mature one, like a kid with an adult personality. On the other hand Beilschmidt has his own brand of maturity, more reserved and laid back, but he does show childlike curiosity for subjects of interest, in my class especially." That dash of childishness was still unusual however, as Alberich was still quite adult in manner. "Strangely. Degurechaff doesn't act like an older sister at all, but she is the more dominant one in their inexplicable dynamic."

That raised Rerugen's eyebrow, "Like?"

"Like… work harder for your class ranking! Or, write that thesis now! Teach me that new spell!" Einzbern listed. "As you can see, she is quite domineering."

"Yes, I can see that." Though with how brazen the boy acted just now, Rerugen had a hard time imagining he was the submissive one. He even kept Degurechaff in line and the girl didn't put up a fight at all.

"Beilschmidt usually just goes along with whatever she wants." Einzbern shook his head at this, "However at times he is the more mature and responsible one, like today."

Rerugen nodded at that, "Yes… he was obviously protecting Degurechaff." He wasn't sure he should be amused or angry that the boy would smile so wide at him as if it was the solution to all the problems in the world. The boy was a charmer in the making, most likely from his younger days in the orphanage. Beilschmidt was used to getting his way using that smile of his and that attitude carried on to now.

"Well… please go easy on him, Erich… Beilschmidt has been worrying for Degurechaff ever since that girl got assigned as representative for her year." It was both cute and alarming to see Beilschmidt getting anxious over the more capable Degurechaff. He supposed what happened today explained why his protégé was feeling uneasy with his friend's new job.

"And why is he worrying in the first place?" Rerugen asked sharply, "That boy acts as if what Degurechaff did was just a little girl posturing to get her job done, and that there was no ill intent! Just a child's enthusiasm to do well! But! I am not blind… she was certainly about to execute that junior cadet for his disrespect!"

The rules did say that insubordination warranted execution, because an army couldn't have disobedient subordinates. They had to obey even a little girl if she ranked higher than them, that was how their organization worked. However, regardless of what the rules stated, most officers wouldn't easily torture and execute their subordinates on the spot like what Degurechaff had done just now. Most people, without being tempered by the fires of the battlefield, didn't have the resolve to do it at a drop of a hat.

However that girl… she didn't hesitate at all! Beilschmidt, despite showing a conscience in saving that cadet, wasn't much better. He decided to protect Degurechaff. That boy obviously knew there was something wrong with Degurechaff, and failed to report it to his superior.

Rerugen wasn't completely unempathetic because he could wrap his head around the idea that Beilschmidt was protecting his childhood friend. Growing up together, there wouldn't be so little attachment between the two. If anything, it showed that Beilschmidt was very much human for prioritizing Degurechaff above the regulations by not reporting his friend's abnormality.

"Rerugen… I know, I know! But whatever is wrong with Degurechaff, let it go for now, okay?"

He sighed, adjusting his glasses as his head began to throb painfully. "Fine… be grateful they're talented officer candidates so we can afford to be lenient. I will keep an eye on them though…" Beilschmidt seemed to act like some sort of stopper for the ticking bomb called Degurechaff, but Rerugen couldn't decide if they should be together or kept separate.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **OCS Dormitory, Tanya's room**

One shouldn't play around with their own body temperature. Alberich had painfully learnt this lesson the first time around and now Tanya had a taste as well. She was feeling terrible because her body temperature couldn't return to normal right away so she had a compress on her forehead and armpit to cool down. She also had stripped down to her underwear. Alberich was by her bedside, fanning the little girl with a fan he'd made from paper lying around. His other hand was holding a sketchbook with Tanya's sadistic face on it.

"I.. I… made that…kind of face?" Tanya rarely stuttered, but looking at the portrait in Alberich's hand she couldn't help it. The image was decidedly psychotic.

Alberich nodded solemnly, "Imagine… a little girl who looks like she is having the time of her life inflicting pain on someone else. In our old world someone would have called the asylum and put you in a straitjacket." He had been on the receiving end of such threats before.

Tanya gave him a wide eyed look at that, it could be best described as an 'Oh crap!' expression. Alberich dropped the paper fan and grabbed the wet towel from the water basin and threw it not so gently at Tanya's face. "Fix that face too! What a waste of your beautiful features!"

The blond girl pulled the towel from her face, glaring resentfully at Alberich. "I AM a man! Who cares about my face?!"

"It's offending my aesthetics senses as a former woman!"

"Why do I care about your aesthetics, you half-baked artist!"

"I saved your sorry ass today, you jerk!"

At the reminder of the events of earlier that day both the child-bodied adults fell silent. Alberich was the first to find his voice. "Damn… we looked really suspicious."

Tanya sat up and nodded, "Yeah… and while you did get us out of that heated situation, you…"

"Like you could think of a better excuse in that situation!" Alberich retorted back.

"You've got a point there." Tanya was truly grateful Alberich even bothered to save her. She didn't understand why he had, but Alberich was here for trying to save her in the first place. Then again after the first time, she decided not to think too deeply on why Alberich might save her. "Don't worry, worst comes to worst I will be the one taking the heat." At the very least she should give him some peace of mind.

"But-"

"We're the precious human resources of the Imperial Army, they'd be lenient…" Tanya stated confidently, "I know how HR works! in the army especially they will tolerate our antics as long as we bring results. So don't worry, Al… we would be just fine."

Alberich looked relieved at her words, which made her wonder if he was fretting for her or for both of them? Tanya had always known she had a warped personality and all the complex imaginable. So she had always put up a façade to protect her own disturbed mind. So she recognized Alberich's own insecurities, the need to hide from society.

Maybe that's why Alberich helped her this time? Tanya was never comfortable with being dependent on anyone, but it didn't hurt to have someone like him around.

"If you say so."

Both of them fell silent again.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

If asked why Alberich had saved Tanya this time, the redhead would have to ponder it a bit before coming to a conclusion. He saw someone else in Tanya's place today, himself perhaps, or maybe his brother from his past life. Unlike him, his brother was quite a severe case as he had both a hyperactivity disorder and the autistic traits. So his brother suffered even more discrimination than Alberich had in both school and society.

And his mother had to stand up for her children, fighting tooth and nail to protect them.

In response, he and his brothers always tried their best to hide their strangeness from the people around them. Memories of how 'hard' it was when people knew they were different haunted their every step. Being the oldest child, Alberich always felt it was his responsibility to guide his brothers in hiding their weirdness. Deflecting attention during one of their episodes was routine to him once upon a time.

Yes, the reckless rescue today was none other than a knee jerk reaction. _'I should leave Tanya to her fate but…'_ Looking at how beaten she looked now, he knew he didn't have the resolve to leave her be.

His father used to say good people and idiots could easily be one and the same… but Alberich didn't help Tanya out of kindness! He wasn't an idiot, but helping her today had been a stupid move, one that drew the wrong kind of attention. Alberich could only hope that the Brass trusted the mental evaluation test results and didn't look deeper at Tanya or himself. They'd scored well enough on that test the last time he'd checked.

He prayed Tanya would be right about this. That their weirdness would be overlooked in favor of their value.

Their graduation was drawing close, and then the fight for their future in this world would truly begin.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **For the best or the worse, Alberich grows attached to Tanya. As he had explained himself in his monologue, there are many reasons why. And no, he is not falling for her ha ha ha... As you can see, Alberich noticed there's something wrong. Well, Rerugen noticed from a couple of encounters and so did Victoriya. Catch Tanya at her bad moment, you will quickly get a clue. She is not a particularly hard character to see through when you can catch her off guard.**

 **Alberich had been with her for about four years, and being an abnormality himself he is more sensitive. He isn't sure what's wrong with Tanya, but if normal people would avoid Tanya like Rerugen, Alberich unconsciously feel weirdoes should stick together and feel he should protect Tanya. It's nothing to do with kindness, at least in my head Alberich isn't a particularly kind character. In fact he does share some of Tanya's bad traits if you look closely, especially in social matters.**

3rd Revision by


	6. 5th Record (ED)

**AN: Against all odds, you guys manage to vote B and the reason? Wow... I don't expect you guys like Alberich's interaction with Tanya. For those who vote A, you don't have to be disappointed either... I will wreck my head for this BUT! in the setting it's inevitable they would be separated from time to time, unless they're right away assigned as pair.**

 **Also... in case anyone forget, because I did. Apparently Tanya has not graduated yet by the time she fought in Norden, she was having deployment training… Hence, Alberich hasn't graduated either. I want to hold this chapter back for a few more days, but... you guys are too awesome so I give in! Just this one time!**

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┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **5th RECORD**

 **Rhine is Cloudy and Norden is Raining Bullets**

When they enjoyed the last few months of their education peacefully, Alberich exhaled in relief and patted his chest. He hadn't been sleeping well when waiting for their graduation announcement, and since that incident on the training grounds Alberich had been worrying endlessly. He was afraid to wake up one day and found Tanya being dragged away to an asylum and never see her again. Instructor Einzbern assured him, that personnel-dept staff officer was a friend and had promised the mage instructor that neither he nor Tanya were in trouble.

Maybe Tanya was right, Alberich was thinking too negatively.

 _'As if!'_

Alberich growled at the idea of walking away without worry, thinking life would be all sunshine and rainbows. He had been there and done that in his previous life, back in primary school. There was one teacher that had gone out her way volunteering to be the homeroom teacher for his little brother, and his family became at ease thinking they will have one peaceful academic year. What a mistake to trust that bitch in sheep clothing! At the first sign of trouble she turned on them and did everything in her capacity as homeroom teacher to give his brother a lot of trouble.

"Hm, you're not leaving yet?"

Just recalling that bitch's fake genial face made him so angry. _'Don't worry, I will take care of him, be at ease?!'_ Why did you even bother if you don't have the resolve to follow through your words? Being a teacher is the most honorable job, but a scum like her can apparently still get a teaching certificate. In fact most of the worst trash in society he had seen in his previous life was one. _'Well, Instructor Einzbern isn't that bitch, but I can't help but be skeptical about this inspector friend of his…'_

"Al-"

 _'Instructor Einzbern is a good person, but he is too optimistic. Without any bribe to keep their mouth shut, it's hard to believe anyone would stop scrutinizing.'_ People do not like alien existence in their midst, it's in human nature and why it took so long for humanity to accept their differences in peace. Even in modern society, racism and discrimination still run rampant.

"Ooi!"

He won't even buy pity from anyone! _'Sympathy for an orphan? Ha! The orphanage won't be so full or poor in the first place if society of this backward era care for orphans.'_ Most of their noble donators give money for the sake of their reputations. He had seen too much in his past life and present one to easily believe in humanity's altruistic side.

If Alberich wasn't too engrossed in his angry thought, he would have noticed the little girl in front of him was losing her patience. She snapped her fingers right in front of his eyes, startling the red haired boy. "Stop your daydreaming, Al! In case you didn't notice, everyone else had finished their breakfast and went to get their training deployment assignments!"

"Aa…" Alberich trailed off, "Right." He followed Tanya to the assignment office, a bit touched she stayed behind to snap him out of his daydream. Then again none of their classmates dare to approach Alberich when he was spacing out and had a mood swing, not after that one time he sent someone who interrupted his daydreaming flying. Apparently mages with the magical aptitude of his level could have 'accidental magic', well, more like a combination of telekinesis and spike of emotion.

He had been told by Instructor Einzbern that the origin of Poltergeist (noisy ghost) is latent magical power of the mage when experiencing a strong emotion. This was more common in children with large mana capacities, and stabilize as they grow older. Something like accidental magic from a certain famous novel in their past life. For some reason while Alberich had shown this instability, Tanya exhibit none. The girl was so smug when she said it's because she is a rationalistic and pragmatic person. Or maybe Alberich was just that immature.

"Warrant Officer Alberich Beilschmidt, here is your assignment!"

"Thank you, Sir!" He almost jumped when his mind returned to reality, and accepted the brown envelop.

The officer patted his shoulder, "Stay strong son! You will do us proud." He said while thinking, _'This would be the boy's first time to be separated from his childhood friend.'_ But he couldn't always stay around Degurechaff, they had to be independent.

…? Was that just the usual encouragement or is there something he had to stay strong for?

There's no use mulling over it so the two soon to be full-pledged Imperial Mages opened their assignment envelopes in the empty cafeteria and began to read. He almost rolled his eyes at Tanya's letter, as it was nothing out of ordinary. This informed him that she was hereby posted to the Norden theater in the North. Better than the polluted industrial province Rhine on the west.

It was one of the borders with a hostile neighbor, but from the Longinum Times he read a few days ago, Legadonia was going through an economic crisis. Rather than concerning themselves with a border dispute over Norden, Legadonia should be too busy recovering their economy. Also, their country was now vulnerable to civil strife, if the economic gap keeps widening. The Empire could be at ease, the North would be a peaceful place with Legadonia occupying themselves with their domestic problem.

"Don't you think so?" Alberich expressed his opinion about the Norden geopolitical situation to Tanya.

Tanya shrugged, "Well… that should be the priority of the newly established Council of Ten, at the rate they're going… they will lose the public's support." Tanya agreed, Legadonia shouldn't give the Empire too much trouble anytime soon, and even if they did, the Empire could curbstomp the weaker country any day. "On the other hand, Rhine…"

He nodded at that, "Yeah, the Republic is growing more paranoid day by day in fear of the Empire…"

After all, they were the closest old Great Power to the Empire's territory that could have prevented the Empire from getting stronger to the point they became the youngest and most superior country in the continent. Far from a Hegemon, but in a one-on-one war the Empire won't lose. The Republic only had themselves to blame for letting their guard down when the Unified Kingdom was across the sea and the Rus Union was still transitioning from Tsarist to Communism. So it was no wonder the Francois Republic felt bitter to be surpassed by their younger neighbor.

 _'Like pigs who resent the wolf cub for growing up.'_ And now the pigs were afraid the wolf will blow their home away.

He groaned when he saw his own deployment training assignment was in the Rhine Theater. "Aargh… bad luck." He glared at Tanya's smug face. "Don't gloat! At least it won't be so cold in Rhine."

"Yeah… just cloudy." Tanya snickered.

If only Tanya's face wasn't so pretty, Alberich would have hit her snarky mouth. "Shut it!"

Seriously, what was that Being X thinking when he was reincarnating that old man to a body of a girl this beautiful? Doe azure blue eyes, hair like ripe oats and skin so fair like snow. Because of the dire straits the deity wanted to punish Tanya with? Beautiful girls tend to have a life full of suffering, or so people in Ancient China believed.

"Still… what a shame for such a beautiful face, and the inside is an old man..." He commented in a distracted manner.

Tanya gave him an unimpressed look. "Shut it, woman."

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Rhine, West Border of the Empire**

There was one story he read in his past, in which the main character was lazing around in her fiancé's bed and muse about how the Englishman was abducting her to the netherworld and she was the Persephone. She felt like she hadn't seen the sun since forever in London, and the capital of England was no different than the underworld.

"I have never been to London before, but this place sure fits the bill with the cloudy sky." He commented as soon as his train stopped in the Rhine station, looking up at the polluted sky of the West. He had wanted to see Big Ben, their famous bridge and museums in his previous life. It was a pity that the Unified Kingdom, at the present, was one country that would be hard to visit as an Empire citizen. This neutral country acted like they didn't want to get involved with anything, but actually had their eyes and hand on everything.

He had never thought in his head that he would think of the UK as one slippery country, being a soldier does give one a new perspective in life. The Empire seemed to have no quarrel with the Kingdom at the present, but Tanya said that they were in a secret war to invent the most disgusting food ration ever cooked by man. Seriously, soldiers are already miserable in war so why did they not have the tradition of minding a poor food stand?

So what if K-brot is full of vitamin B?*

Alberich perked up as he saw a man dressed in their military uniform waiting at the gate, he had heard a squadron commander of his flight would come to pick him up. "Good morning! Warrant Officer, Alberich Beilschmidt reporting for duty, Sir!"

"At ease, Warrant Officer." The man had red hair that was in a different shade than Alberich's hair, more brownish than his vivid red. "First, let me welcome you. I am the Squadron Captain, First Lieutenant Iren Schwarzkopf."

Hm? Wasn't there a hair care product with that name in his past life? His neatly combed back hair sure looks good. No, Alberich… don't laugh, act like a soldier or Tanya will kick your ass for being an idiot. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Squadron Captain Schwarzkopf." He replied, a smile befitting his age firmly in place.

"It's unusual to have someone so young under me, but Einzbern is all but threatening me to take care of his precious protégé or else." Schwarzkopf was shaking his head at this.

Alberich smiled sheepishly at that, "Major Einzbern is exaggerating, Sir…" His gaze briefly wandered to the medals decorating Schwarzkopf's uniform. _'A competent boss, lucky~'_ And this lieutenant also knows his mentor, at the very least Alberich had no worries for bad treatment. Now, all he had to do was do his best to get Schwarzkopf's acknowledgement and his stay in the Rhine Theater would be as enjoyable as it could be.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Few Days Later…**

Working under a competent superior was indeed a fortune for any soldier, even under depressing weather of Rhine. However, he really had to protest strongly at the quality of life in sentry post, faraway from the industrial area. First of all, the water was muddy and smelt strange. Obviously in this era, the factories still dump their waste whenever they wanted! Second, K-brot as a staple food everyday gave him a sad reminder of his old orphanage. Third! The lack of sunlight was getting to him, and he quickly realized this was the old illness from his previous life catching up with him.

The third problem wasn't so much of a problem, as soon as he received permission from air defense identification, Alberich made his way above the cloud for some sunbathing to prevent SAD. Life was good for an Aerial Mage.

As for food, there's nothing much he could do as it was a shared suffering. There was no forest to forage in Rhine anyway. He wasn't desperate enough to start shooting whatever birds were flying in Rhine's sky for protein, not yet.

Water on the other hand, it was completely unforgivable! They couldn't even use rain water, because this was an industrial city. So after a few days of trying to stomach muddy water, Alberich couldn't take it anymore and purified the water with mana during his lunch in one of their border bases. Completely oblivious of Schwarzkopf's observing gaze or curious looks his fellow squadron mates shot him.

It was easier than he thought, as all he had to do was convert mana to electricity to remove any organic pollutants, then using Mage's Shell to drag the mixed mud to settle on the bottom. Using telekinesis to lift the water from his glass, and threw away the mud at the bottom.

"Aah…" He sighed with relish, enjoying his clean water for the first time since he came to Rhine. "Huh? What is it?" Why did they look at him like he was growing a second head or something?

Schwarzkopf was looking at his glass of water with amazement, "Did you just clean muddy water with magic?"

"Yes?" Maybe he wasn't allowed to do it? Was the muddy water part of the training to survive the battlefield? "Should I not?"

Schwarzkopf groaned, "Now I know why that guy is so smug… Beilschmidt!"

"Yes, Sir?!" Gah, the first mistake when he was still in training! How embarrassing!

"Did you just invent a new spell?"

He blinked at the unexpected question, but it wasn't an order to give him thirty push-ups or other kinds of penalties. "No, it's just converting mana to electrical energy to purify water from bacteria and the like. Then using the Shell spell to filter the mud, quickly followed by telekinesis so I can throw away the coagulated sediment at the bottom."

The first lieutenant looked at the water in Alberich's glass and made a silent gesture 'give me' by stretching his hand. As a subordinate, Alberich obediently handed it to Schwarzkopf for him to inspect. The older mage sniffed the water, peering at it as he shook the glass a little before taking a sip.

There was a long silence until Schwarzkopf placed his big, strong hand over Alberich's shoulder and declared. "You won't get a medal for this, but I will have you know that you're our hero from now on."

"Thank you, Sir?"

Schwarzkopf turned around, not answering Alberich's silent plea for an explanation. "What are you lot waiting for?! Sean! Marco! Go to our water tank and get us some clean water!"

"Aye-aye, Sir!"

That day, thanks to his past knowledge of the modern water purifier system, Alberich became the most popular mage in the Rhine Theater. Apparently he wasn't the only one who was sick of muddy water. While he was flattered, Alberich was also a bit annoyed. Why the heck did no one take the initiative to do something about their water before someone got sick?! Surely in this era, people already know how much bacteria was in that muddy water and boiling the water won't always make it clean!

A week had passed since he came to Rhine, and today Schwarzkopf had given him permission to patrol their border alone. "Just follow directions from CP and make sure you stay in your assigned airspace." Schwarzkopf gave a last minute briefing. "After that, I will have you join Sean's flight for maneuver training."

"Thank you, squadron commander! I will not disappoint you, Sir!" He saluted, before taking one step back. He inhaled deeply before exhaling. "Warrant Officer Alberich Beilschmidt, take off!"

And off to the cloudy sky with specks of sunlight in Rhine he go. His commander became smaller and smaller from his increasing altitude. Alberich was a little nervous and almost cried out when his radio let out static noise before he heard the operator from CP talking. He departed to the assigned coordinates swiftly, taking care to keep his altitude steady.

Looking at the barren land with a patch of forest here and there, Alberich couldn't help but sigh. "Does Norden's mountain range and pine forest look less boring than this?" He wondered to himself, "At least where Tanya is patrolling now, the sky is blue."

Patrol practice was more boring than he thought, not that he wanted anything to happen. If anything, he should pray there won't be anything happening in this border. On the west was the Republic, and further across the northwest sea was the Unified Kingdom. It won't make a pretty picture, even for the mighty Empire, if the two great powers ganged up on them.

He finished his practice with flying colors, earning him a hearty slap on the back from Sean. The joker reminded Alberich a little of his favorite instructor in OCS. It was a bit after midday so they had late lunch, the menu was K-brot and a bowl of eintopf.

"So, any creative spells to make K-brot tastier?" Sean asked jokingly.

Sean and Marco were the easiest soldiers to get along with in their squadron. They didn't even bat an eye at his young age, and treated him as their equal. "I wish I know how… a friend of mine told me not even birds will eat this." He pointed at the dark colored bread. "So I tried to feed the hungry birds in winter this…"

"Hooo…"

"She is right, the bread is so awful even birds reject it…" Alberich shook his head, and was about to continue when he got wide eyed looks from his two new friends. "What?"

Sean swallowed a mouthful of bread before speaking. "She?! You have a girlfriend?"

"Gaaah… defeated by a junior, the world is so unfair!"

Alberich sweat-dropped, these two were overreacting. "It's a friend that happens to be a girl." He explained.

"And just so happens she is also growing up together with you and a classmate in school." Sean droned on, winking repeatedly at him.

The red haired mage raised an eyebrow, did this guy just spout the typical childhood friend romance cliché from shoujo manga? Well, if they didn't count their past lives, Tanya was indeed his childhood friend and they went to OCS together. The romance these two suggested however, was completely an out-of-the-world-imagination.

While he was more comfortable with his newfound masculinity, and Alberich found Tanya as a very pretty girl, getting involved with her in that kind of relationship never crossed his mind.

"At a time like this, you should stutter and blush." Sean admonished him, "Not giving me a deadpan look."

Tanya's fake smile followed by her sadistic one popped up to mind. "Even if you say so… blushing over Tanya is kind of…"

"Is this childhood friend of yours not pretty enough or something? Well, the girl I grew up with got big teeth and-"

Alberich didn't understand it himself, but he felt offended by Sean's inquiry. "I will have you know that Tanya is a very beautiful girl." He had earned more than a few hundred Mark* just from selling Tanya's portraits to noble ladies. "Doe blue eyes, skin so pale it almost looks transparent… and wavy blond hair like spun gold." He went on and on, hand reaching for his small book of notes from his pocket and he started to draw. "She, more-or-less, looks like this! You must be blind to call her ugly!" He shouted, brandishing his sketch of Tanya's face with her fake little girl's smile.

That was when Alberich's mind was back to reality, and noticed his squad mates were red in the face and stuttering something incomprehensible under their breaths. Maybe he shouldn't show Tanya's pretty face off everywhere he pleases, it would be a disaster if she got some pedo stalker or something.

"Well… I kind of got a clue when I go with him to town…" Whispered Marco to Sean. "This kid is a natural Casanova."

"At nine years old… what is the world coming to?"

"Well… back in town…"

Flight-mates Sean and Marco went together with the boy to Rhine CP to get Alberich's permission to fly in Rhine's airspace, the admin ladies in the Air Defence Office couldn't stop giggling in the duration of Alberich's stay. The kid commented about the fresh flowers one of the ladies placed on her table, about the flower language and some shit no soldier would get that earned him more blushing and giggling. The prettiest girl in that department even jokingly asked the kid on a date! Marco had been chasing her for months and she didn't even look at him! Alberich, as if used to this kind of cajoling from older women, just winked and ask her to wait until he is of age.

Marco shuddered, "There was so much giggling that day…"

Sean sighed, "Thankfully the kid already has a sweetheart, even though he is in denial."

Did these jokers think that Alberich was in a romance-comedy-drama where the male lead was an impossibly dense guy who couldn't see an obvious crush from his childhood friend and not noticing his own feelings? "It's certainly nothing like you imagine…" This pretty childhood friend was an old man inside, well, actually the salaryman couldn't be much older than his past self but that's not the point.

Sean scoffed, "You have just sung praises for your pretty friend, and you can even draw her face in a blink of an eye!"

Simply because he had drawn her a lot of times. Her portrait was very profitable back in the day, you know! "Huh? Beautiful person is beautiful, that doesn't mean we're in that kind of relationship. It's the same as saying Rhine is quite cloudy…" It was just a matter of fact.

"Gah… this is why young genius are-" His comrades lamented.

Schwarzkopf cleared his throat, "Enough, time out for teasing your junior." He had been watching them for quite a while, and didn't see fit to interrupt until now.

"But commander, we failed!" Sean wailed dramatically.

Schwarzkopf pointedly ignored Sean's antics, the mood maker of their squadron could be a bit too much sometimes. "Hm… I have heard of your talented friend… Degurechaff, right?" Einzbern had informed him about Alberich's fellow young prodigy.

"Yes, we entered OCS together…" Alberich inwardly thought, Instructor Einzbern was quite through in informing Schwarzkopf about him, even personal matters.

"Do you know where she got assigned?"

The red haired boy nodded, "Yes, she is in Norden for her deployment training…"

Schwarzkopf hummed at that, "Norden… the North definitely has better scenery than Rhine, but the border there also has a hostile neighbor."

Alberich sat straighter at that, the commander was subtly assessing his ability as a future officer of the Imperial army. "Legadonia Federation…"

"That's right… the country that contested the region of Norden against our Empire." Schwarzkopf elaborated. "Their military power is no match against us but they're enemies all the same. The situation there isn't as tense as here, but… what do you think, Beilschmidt?"

Obviously the squadron commander already has a good picture of the situation in Norden, but he asked to get a feel if a child, who was on track to be a military officer like him, possessed the awareness of the geopolitical situation on the field. "May I speak freely, Sir?" Tanya had warned him to be cautious of what to say, because someone on the bottom of the ranks shouldn't talk about sensitive topics like politics freely with their superiors.

"Yes, it's off the record… just casual talk to get to know you better…" The older mage assured him.

Alberich thanked the commander before answering. "Well, I agree the situation in Norden is relatively calmer. However… we still have to keep our guard up because Legadonia, in recent years, managed to keep up with their own magical science thanks to support from allies, especially the Republic."

Schwarzkopf whistled, this kid brought up an interesting point. "Oh, so if the Republic attacks us… there's a chance they will pressure Legadonia to do the same?" Fighting a multiple front war was the Empire's greatest fear.

"It's just conjecture, but the possibility exists." He answered confidently, before shrugging. "Fortunately for us, Legadonia shouldn't be in any condition to attack us anytime soon." Alberich said confidently.

Sean perked up at that, "Eeeh, why did you say so?"

"According to an article in the Longidium Times from last week, Legadonia is currently suffering from an economic crisis. They elected new council members due to this too." Alberich backed his opinion with data. "If their situation doesn't get better, their government will quickly lose public support like the previous one did."

His solid argument aside, Schwarzkopf didn't fail to note that this boy can read foreign newspaper. The young mage also didn't act like it's something he should be proud for either, as if it was something everyone ought to do. "I see…"

Alberich's behavior was understandable, because English was a compulsory lesson in modern times, so to him it would be weirder if anyone with a proper education can't speak English. "With their domestic situation in disarray, they shouldn't come to the Republic's aid… should the Republic decide to settle their business with us."

"Does Legadonia matter so much to affect Republican's decision to keep status quo with us or not?"

The red haired mage paused at that, "Well… because their traditional alliance with Rus Tsarist fell." There was no way the Republic could be allied with the Rus Union, even the Empire settled with just a non-aggression pact with that communist country. "So the Republic can only rely on Legadonia now to make sure they won't get stuck in a one-on-one war with us."

There were other countries that could help the Republic like the Unified Kingdom, but the archipelago country would never deign to be openly involved against the Empire due to their neutral country policy. Tanya said the UK in their world was like this too, at first, in WWI and WWII, and she predicted the Kingdom kept their neutrality just so that when the other countries get too tired tearing each other apart they could become the nice and neutral mediator to take advantage of the weakened parties.

 _'What a bunch of scumbags…'_ Arthurian myth was indeed a myth, a relic from a past that tells romanticism of chivalry and bravery.

Other alternative was the Grand Duchy of Dakia, but that won't happen unless the Republic was in a so dire situation that they would even borrow a cat's paw. Dakia wasn't only small, but they don't even have a solid foundation yet. Like a baby that is still learning how to walk, that was Dakia to other countries. So at the present the Republic would be on their own if they declare war on the Empire.

"So, speaking in a 'what if' scenario… there's no chance there would be any shells and bullets flying in Norden?" Marco wondered out loud.

Looking at the satisfied look of their commander, Alberich supposed the casual talk was now truly beginning as more and more members of their squadron joined in. Marco's question got him thinking, didn't something like this happen before in his old world? "Not unless Legadonia's new Council of Ten consists of idiots with more concern for keeping their political boat afloat than for their people…" Alberich muttered in his drink before taking a sip.

"Hm, what do you mean by that, rookie?" Sean, who was sitting beside him, overheard his muttering.

Alberich smiled sheepishly, "Never mind, it's just an overthought!"

"Oh, come on! Voice your opinion some more, newbie! It's just our folks here~" Sean encouraged, "You said something about if Legadonia's new government are idiots?"

Schwarzkopf and the rest of the squadron members leaned in curiously. "Just say it Beilschmidt, it's off the record!"

Alberich hesitated for a second before saying. "Their government might try a diversion tactic on their people suffering from poverty…" He was chuckling now. "Like showing off how they're working hard on some other matter while not working on the main problem that currently plagues their country…" There were a lot of politicians doing that in his past life, appearing on TV doing a on-site visit to some related industry of their field and making speeches instead of working on the problems plaguing their people.

"So, you're saying… they might march to Norden and tell their people they will take back their people's land from the evil Empire for them?" Marco made a wild guess. "How is that helping Legadonian citizens put more food on their tables?"

At the next moment everyone in the squadron broke into a laughing fit. "Ha ha ha ha! Maybe bread grows on trees in Norden or something?!"

"Yeah, that's just too impossible! It's not like taking Norden will help Legadonia get richer!" Another squadron member added. "I had been there before! Just pine trees and mountains, we can't even grow potatoes there!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"Nah… nothing that absurd, just imagine the political backlash Legadonia will get if they broke the treaty of Longinium the Unified Kingdom had nicely mediated for them."

This country already had a lackey status among the allies, and their decent military power was thanks to the Republic and the Unified Kingdom helping them from the shadows. Won't they drop to rock bottom in the eyes of their allies if they dared attack the Empire?

"Indeed." Schwarzkopf agreed. "They can be all talk though, but that would be our bureaucrat's business."

To the rationalistic Imperial soldiers, the values of common sense and logic had been hammered to them since their military school days. Even Alberich, with his past life experience, was no different, growing up by Tanya's side enforced this even more. So the boy forgot one thing his senior at work taught him when he just starting out as a Interior Designer. A seemingly trivial lesson that shouldn't matter in this new world jumbled by guns and magic.

There's nothing fool proof in the world, no matter how meticulously you design something. Which was why no matter how obvious something was designed for and should be used with an on-and-off button, it always comes with manual instructions and not just because design regulation said so. While it's rude to think people are idiots, it's a basic rule to assume the worst just to be safe and it's optimistically idiotic and idealistic to hope for the best.

Beyond common sense and rationale, the world will give us greater idiots without fail.*

And that was the lesson Alberich needed to learn again, along with the rest of the Imperial Army just a few days later. When Legadonia did exactly what they called as an idiotic move for the sake of posturing.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Two days later, Norden**

Flying over the blue sky of Norden was newly promoted Second Lieutenant Tanya Degurechaff, and her patrol mission had been cancelled in favor of observation. She was even assigned the ironic call sign for this mission, of all things it had to be 'Fairy'. She reported the border violation, confirming the presence of a Legadonian infantry force in Norden. The CP authorized artillery teams to start firing, and shells began to fly across the sky. "Norden Control, this is Fairy 08. Strike confirmed. Error within 10."

"Contacting artillery unit, over." Replied the operator.

Tanya held up her binoculars, watching bemusedly as the infantry of the Legadonia Federation scattered like ants to the forest for cover. _'They didn't seem to expect that at all, seriously… did they think the Empire would just let them march to Norden untouched?'_ They were even more stupid than that insubordinate cadet she had the misfortune to teach. _'Why did you cross the border if you're unprepared for war? The Empire would never do that…'_ Those wasted human resources, it was just too sad.

This operation of theirs was too stupid to be considered by her pragmatic country in the first place. For a weak country like Legadonia breaking Longidium treaty, won't they get lambasted after this mess is over by all sides? They already had enough domestic problems, and they just had to look for an international one.

Tanya sighed before contacting CP, "This is Fairy 08, reporting to Norden Control. Enemy infantry forces have scattered." Like ants that got their nest burned.

This was such an easy mission, she wondered if Alberich was having fun in the polluted skies of Rhine now. She chuckled as she thought of how unlikely it is that he is having a good time there, oblivious of hostile mana signatures closing in to her airspace. You'd think after a run in with a God, Tanya should start believing in Murphy's law.

Being-X was out to make everything that could go wrong around her wrong.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Surely you didn't expect me to rewrite Norden, do you? Anyway... sorry if Alberich's days in Rhine isn't so exciting, and maybe this chapter is boring you. However... Being X did keep his word to not trouble Alberich/not as harsh because well... Alberich isn't rejecting God like Tanya does. However like any believer with rationale and free will, Alberich reasonable doubting Being X is God because of the obvious~**

 **Anyway, about Legadonia and Norden... in hindsight more territory won't help Legadonia's economy. Even if there are precious resource like mines and the like, they still need money to process it to help their plummeting economy. So yes, domestic demonstration aside... it should be obvious Norden serves no purpose whatsoever for Legadonia if their problem is money. It's a wonder why they didn't ask for a loan from the Republic instead.**

 **FYI, chapter 22 is out in Japan now but no raw scan yet... so I think it would be out around a week later.**

 **AN: ***

 *** K-brot and vitamin B: Or so said researchers post-WW, but I bet no soldiers care about the vitamin.**

 ***Purifying Water: Most designer back in college should have visit site a with facility to re-use their waste water. It's very educational, and you won't forget it anytime soon… the dreary basement and the smell ensures that. I won't use typical isekai tropes bringing modern comfort but… this is semi SI, there's no way Alberich can stomach muddy water for long if he can help it.**

 ***Mark: Apparently the currency of Reich Empire…**

 **SKIP the AN below, if you don't want to keep believing in humanity. Drop a review, I take suggestion!**

 *** Unbelievable idiocy exists...**

 **I kid you not, go visit a site called Clients From Hell and you will see the greatest example of idiocy on earth. First you will feel 'Is this for real' then you are going to feel sorry for the hell client for their idiocy and the designer for having to deal with them, even if it's a job. Then you start to worry for humanity, because these idiots are part of our society.**

 **Here is my personal experience, when a client ask me this.**

 _"Can we have human sized pentagonal kaleidoscope tunnel?"_

 **In case you're unfamiliar with the mechanics and physics behind kaleidoscopes, the pretty diamond like reflections happen because the mirrors are arranged in a triangle shape, with specific angle. Unless physic law change, you can't have a pentagonal kaleidoscope, just mirror tunnel with a messy reflection. This is not even a design problem we're having here. So I explain why it can't work but my client has faith that I can present it to him. I am flattered he thinks so, but unless Being X or real God will it, he won't get a pentagonal kaleidoscope anytime soon in this lifetime. I have never been so glad for cancelling a project.**


	7. 6th Record

**The Leader and Paragon updated today so I thought... why not join the fray to make you all happier with waves of updates? Especially since raw ch 22 is out courtesy of Miralisque and we should be able to expect a translated chapter soon. So yay for all of us... *clap-clap***

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **6th RECORD**

 **Roses, Apples and Medals...**

 **Back to Rhine, patrol line 02**

Alberich flipped over, flying with his back facing the ground. No matter how he looked at the ground or the sky, Rhine's border was a sad place. Fortunately this was his last day to patrol Rhine's gloomy sky. Tomorrow he could go back to Central, see Tanya and his classmates and graduate from OCS for real. Back in his past life, graduation was a solemn affair followed by a rowdy party thrown together by graduates who wanted to get loose after the grueling exams. It won't be too different for their older classmates but… to him and Tanya it would be uneventful.

First of all, at their age they just couldn't stand the rowdiness of teenagers graduating with them. They were orphans so there was no family to celebrate with, and going back to the orphanage was a bit… Even though he wasn't attached to the old orphanage any more than Tanya does, there's some social obligation he owed them. So the plan would be to visit the nuns and kids, bring some food, show your face and tell your ex-caretakers some news about yourself.

Alberich actually didn't care too much about this social visit, but his mother would want him to at least put some effort to care.

 _'Getting Tanya to come with me would be a pain…'_ Alberich thought as his feet touched the ground softly.

"Beilschmidt! Bad news!" Shouted Sean.

"Did your girlfriend break up with you?" After a while even Alberich, the rookie, was allowed to crack jokes with his senior.

"I wish-" Sean shook his head, "No, It's Legadonia!"

"Huh?"

Alberich had the shock of his life when a haggard looking Sean informed him that a live radio broadcast from Norden and Central reported that there was a large scale border transgression made by the Legadonia Federation. When Alberich ran in a rush back to their camp, the radio was blaring an ultimatum from the Legadonia government.

Alberich let the indignant voice of the Imperial reporter wash over him, he wasn't really paying attention to the details of the ultimatum from Legadonia. But basically they want the Empire to get the hell out of Norden as soon as possible or else. Just what 'else' this weaker country could do to the Empire? Unless they had developed the atomic bomb early, Alberich couldn't think of any reason for Legadonia to act so high and mighty.

"How is the condition of our forces in Norden? Did they face strong resistance or..." Alberich just had to make sure.

Schwarzkopf was rubbing his temple before saying, "No… we steamrolled their force as expected…"

What?

That silenced his squadron that had just returned from their patrol, all mages under Schwarzkopf were looking at him with disbelief written on their faces. "And…" Sean trailed off, before voicing out their squadron members' collective thoughts. "Why is Legadonia giving us an ultimatum then?" Like they were the ones on the winning side to make any demand.

Schwarzkopf just sighed before he approached Alberich and patted the boy on the shoulder comfortingly, "Apparently, they are that stupid…"

Silence fell in the room as the mages ingested what their commander just said. They couldn't help but recall a somewhat sketchy talk they had a few days ago, that could be summarized to a conclusion that Legadonia would never attack Norden unless their leaders are politically shortsighted, and daydreamers. So it was no wonder that to the rationalistic and pragmatic Imperial Army, their collected opinion about Legadonia's invasion was 'Are they for real?' before firing shells just to test if the invading force wasn't just a figment of their imaginations.

And now at the face of the Legadonian's ultimatum, even the brilliant minds making up the top brass of the Imperial Army were both stunned and confused. 'Aren't we the ones winning this conflict, and not them?' The impossibility of this situation made them do double checks on reality, but the reports saying that the Norden army razed the Legadonians yesterday didn't change to say otherwise.

To Alberich, their ultimatum sounded like the government wanted to fool their own people into believing that they had this conflict under control. However when their focus was fanning patriotism so their people won't topple them from their seats of power, these upper brass politicians forget the ones watching them wasn't just their people. At the rate this was going, Legadonia's standing in the international view was going to plummet to rock bottom.

He sighed as he half-listened to Schwarzkopf telling his squadron to keep what they were talking about a few days ago to themselves and not making wild guesses. Just let their superiors do their jobs to settle this mess. There was no need to worry because they were on the winning side.

 _'I wonder if Tanya is involved in this conflict in Norden.'_ There's a very slim chance that the Norden army was that short-handed to involve students-in-training. _'She would be happy to be part of a great victory like this, promotion and what not…'_ That girl valued her life more than anything, so she shouldn't be doing anything dangerous.

At the same moment, said girl just crashed from Norden's sky.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **The next day**

He was still half-awake before his cup of morning tea when Schwarzkopf came to the chow hall and gave him a telegram from his instructor, Einzbern. "Your friend… Second Lieutenant Degurechaff was heavily injured from the conflict against the Legadonia Federation yesterday, so Major Einzbern has taken the liberty to excuse you from reporting to Central today and head to Norden." They were both orphans, and Alberich was the closest thing Tanya can consider a relative according to Einzbern.

He didn't have time to digest the fact that Tanya was promoted, but the main point was…"Tanya… got hurt?" What did that girl do to get herself so injured, to the point their instructor was informed. That meant she was injured enough to be incapable to report back to Central, not just superficial bruises.

"It seems she was on patrol and her area happened to be the closest to the invading force, so she was commissioned on the spot to serve as an artillery observer." Schwarzkopf explained in a somber voice. "And she was hunted by Legadonian mages…" An opportunity followed by disaster.

Alberich paled at that, _'Just what kind of Godly intervention caused her to get stuck in such a situation?!'_ He honestly forgot that girl had a high and mighty entity after her.

The young mage excused himself before dashing to his room to grab his already packed luggage. He made time to say good byes and thank yous to his seniors and commander Schwarzkopf for taking care of him, pointedly ignoring the light hearted teasing from Sean before he was off to the train station heading to Norden.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **On the way to Norden**

It was a long ride to Norden until he reached the north region of the Empire, and when the train made a stop Alberich saw a kiosk on the station selling newspaper. He opened his window as he called the man manning the kiosk to bring him a Londigium Times and Reich newspaper. Seeing him buying newspaper, a middle aged woman with a basket full of roses and baby breath approached his open window and asked.

"Would you like some flowers too, boy?" He got a bewildered look from both sellers when they caught sight of his military coat. "I mean, young soldier."

He was about to refuse before he remembered he was going to visit a sick person. "Ah…" His mother in his past life always stressed the importance of bringing gifts for this kind of occasion, but flowers for that Tanya? Won't that girl shoot him if he brought her flowers? Roses of all things?

His dilemma ended prematurely when a youth with a basket full of apples came to offer the same.

He was about to decide to just bring some apples for courtesy sake, but then he locked gazes with the flower selling woman. Her eyes spoke as if saying 'Won't you buy flowers from this poor woman?' to him. Alberich would like to think he was a person with firm resolve, but he was also weak against pleas.

"I will buy them." And just because a single rose would give off the wrong impression he decided to buy all of them. It wasn't like Alberich was still a poor orphan, he could afford to splurge a bit from time to time now. Especially since this was quite further to the North, away from Berun so the price of his purchase was much cheaper.

With apples and bouquet of roses in hand, Alberich continued his journey to Norden. After finishing reading the newspaper, he left his compartment and headed to the buffet car. Alberich ordered his meal, before asking the waitress if they have an empty vase and water to keep the roses fresh.

Looking at the beautiful red roses and tiny flowers of baby breath in between, Alberich was overcome with the feeling of wasting a good bouquet on someone who won't appreciate it. He just finished sketching the flowers when they arrived in Norden station.

From there, Alberich had to walk to the garrison. He couldn't fly there because he wasn't registered to fly here.

 _'Aah… having magic in this world sometimes isn't so magical, you'd think flying with your own ability without vehicle won't require any permit."_ Alberich thought as he left the train station, _'Then again…'_ Flight via magic was monopolized by Mages from the military, identification was needed so CP could detect invading Mages easily.

He wondered if Tanya also thinks the military hoarding and monopolizing mages is a waste of human resources. If the Empire isn't so militaristic, they would have wider choices of profession as mages. Then again, considering the geopolitical situation of the Empire it was a logical choice.

Alberich's musing was cut short when the Northern Garrison came to view, briefly admiring the architecture before going in. He greeted the military police manning the front desk and asked him the direction to their medical room. Alberich didn't miss the double take the MP did due to his young appearance, the bouquet of roses he haphazardly wrapped with a Longinium Times newspaper and a basket full of apples in his hands.

Maybe he should have just left the roses on the train. "I am visiting Tanya Degurechaff." He added just to fill the silence.

"Ah, yes… she is in medical room number 4." The MP answered after checking the thin file with a list of patients. "Just go straight down this hallway, turn left and you will find our medical wing there."

"Thank you, Sir." He walked in a brisk pace, and before he left the reception area he swore he overheard the MP muttering 'kids these days…' and wondered if the man misunderstood something. He didn't ponder about it for long as he soon found the room with the sign plate he was looking for. The door was left ajar, considering the room should be shared by four patients the medic probably expected a steady traffic of visitors to not bother closing it.

Though only two beds were occupied now, and Tanya got the bed closest to the window with plenty of sunlight pouring in the room. The man occupying the bed closest to the door took one look at him, before he sat up and excused himself. It confused Alberich, but the man seemed to be quite fine to walk around since he only had both hands bandaged and not his feet. What a considerate person to give a visiting friend privacy, Alberich thought.

"Al…" Tanya called him flatly, "Why are you here, and what's with the roses?"

Of course, it would be the roses that got Tanya's eyebrow twitching like that. "Your get well soon gift." He returned flatly, pulling a nearby stool to Tanya's bedside.

The little girl scowled, "I'd rather you give me the wrapping newspaper." She wanted to know what the heck was going on in the world since she blew herself up.

In this world or their previous one, Tanya would be the only girl that prefers the wrapping over the gorgeous rose bouquet. Alberich sighed as he set down the basket of apples beside the roses, he should have known. "I will tell you the summary, you can read it later." Alberich winced when he took a good look of Tanya's condition.

"What?" Tanya got annoyed by his blatant staring.

"Oh my God, Tanya… what did you do to end up like this?" He couldn't help but say. She was injured heavily, mostly all her limbs judging from the bandages were covered in gun wounds. Since she was flying airborne, he also could imagine the cast was for the broken bones she got from crashing to the ground.

Tanya growled at him, most likely because of his mention of God. "Why don't you ask Being-X, just what did he do to me?"

"I told you, I don't worship that one. But… I got to say, a series of coincidences that landed you to this state is undoubtedly go- I mean… demonic intervention?" Alberich concluded awkwardly, picking an apple and pocket knife all soldiers carried around with them.

Tanya watched Alberich idly casting a spell to clean the surface of the ripe red fruit, "Definitely, I won't even put it past him for rotting the Legadonian leader's brain to go that far with their stunt yesterday." She scoffed, "Their soldiers didn't even spare me, who looks like this." Tanya looked a bit put off by this. "Truly, a blind belief in altruism of humanity is dangerous."

Alberich wondered if he should tell Tanya, while she was right that it's dangerous to trust in humanity's altruism, what happened yesterday proved the danger was in believing humanity's intelligence. "Anyway… what our local newspaper say about this latest conflict is basically mocking Legadonia Federation for their brazen border violation, and praising our army to high heaven for our prompt response." Said response was a hail of shells, divine punishment from war god the artillery.

Tanya rolled her eyes at that, "Yeah, I guided those shells flying myself."

He hummed softly at that, as he stabbed the knife in the fruit to scoop out the leftover stalk. "Londigium Times on the other hand… criticizing Legadonia's imprudent action that ruined their country's good will when setting up the benevolent Londinium Treaty, and also the Empire for resorting to violence so quickly." As if the treaty didn't matter.

Tanya rolled her eyes at that, "Typical… our country is fanning patriotism while the Unified Kingdom acts like the wronged party, as if everyone owe them something."

"I haven't gotten my hands on a Republican newspaper, but they must be anxious now. It all depends on what our superiors decide I suppose..."

Tanya growled, "If I ever get my hands on the idiots who ordered me to delay those mages…"

Indeed, that was quite unreasonable to expect Tanya to delay a squadron with a one to twelve odds. Even the vaunted Oda Nobunaga won his famous Okegahara battle with one to ten odds, and that was after utilizing both weather and terrain to his advantage. Mages only had their shells, and the sky had no cover to hide aside from clouds but Tanya was observing for the artillery units, so her altitude would be around 4000, clouds float in a much higher attitude than that.

They might as well tell her to die, and she escaped by making herself almost dead to leave the battlefield. Tanya managed to save herself in such a extreme way was worthy of praise. Alberich couldn't imagine what he would do in that situation.

"Al, put 'cushioning spell' or other safety spells in your list of spells to develop, for an aerial mage to drop like a fly is insulting."

Alberich supposed that safety spells, aside from orthodox mage's shell, should be developed soon. Flight spells could fail for various reasons, and a parachute that slowed descent would make them a good target for enemy mages. "Didn't you break your computation jewel?" Mage's shell could have saved her from broken bones, but a broken computation jewel means Tanya won't be able to use her mana properly to interfere with the world.

"That's not the point… See this? I wanted to look like I fought hard and forced to leave the battle, but I almost died and it's my luck I was found quickly by our infantry soldiers." She hissed in a lower voice, she would be damned if it was overheard that her heroic deed was faked.

Alberich chose not to point out to Tanya that, regardless of her true intention, her habit of falling into roles makes her heroic action yesterday anything but fake, especially as she said she really did almost died. He put his hands up in a placating gesture, "I get it, I get it." His gaze lowered to her body, "But really… so many wounds, what a tragedy for a body of a maiden to be littered in scars…"

"Alberich, I don't care and you-"

A nurse came right at that moment, overhearing the last two sentences. "Hello, how do you do today, dear?" Tanya groaned at her pampering. "There's no need to worry! The skills of our military doctor here is praiseworthy, and I can assure you that little Tanya's fair skin won't get scarred at all!" She said, letting out a 'ohoho' those high class ladies liked to do.

Being smiled at prompted Alberich to do the same courtesy. "I am glad to hear that, uhm…" His gaze lowered to her nameplate, "Miss Calla, thank you for taking care of Tanya."

The nurse, Calla smiled benignly. _'My… what a polite boy, unlike the rowdy little brothers I have at home.'_ Her eyes wandered at the bouquet of roses sadly forgotten on the bedside table together with the apples. "I can find a vase for you, and there's a plate in the bottom drawer."

She was a very thoughtful and attentive nurse, Alberich praised inwardly. "Then I will trouble you, Miss Calla."

She quickly checked Tanya's condition, noting her bandages didn't have to be changed for now and reminded the girl to call if she needed any help. "Then, excuse me… just call if you need me." She said again, sighing as she gave the pair of children one last look before exiting the room. _'Aah… who says all military men are crude, little Tanya is so lucky!'_ She decided to take a long while to look for a vase to give the two some privacy.

Tanya's left eye twitched at the retreat of the blushing nurse, "I am so sick of hearing women giggle whenever you go."

"I shared your sentiment before because of my brother." He said as he fetched the plate from the bottom drawer.

Whether or not his brother in his previous world had both ADHD and autism, a handsome boy was still a feast to look at. Alberich remembered when they were kids, a lot of adults fell in love with his brother's dimpled smile. They thought he was an angel for the first ten minutes of meeting him until all hell broke loose when his brother throws a tantrum. Even after he calmed down as a teenager, said brother still had a lot of women sighing and giggling in admiration. As an older sister, he could only be envious his brother got more New Years money just for being pretty.

Humans are superficial creatures, they like beauties in any form.

Of course, he could no longer laugh at his little brother now. Alberich was exploiting his looks in this life, then again, for a hungry orphan the extra money those ladies and madames give for a smile was too good to pass up for dignity's sake. Though now, his facial muscles always smile on reflex in the presence of female kin. The old Japanese saying, if you make a certain face all the time it would stuck was quite true.

"Oi, Al… can you please not make an apple bunny?" Tanya glared at the apple slice Alberich shaped meticulously.

"It's cute right ❤?"

The blond gave Alberich a disgusted look, unappreciative of his sense of art. "Woman, do take care to remember that such words shouldn't escape your mouth when your body is a boy." Tanya hissed, before picking a slice with her left hand to eat.

"That's quite a contradiction, calling me a woman but-"

 **Knock! Knock! Knock!**

Since when was the door closed? Did nurse Calla close it when she went off to find them a vase? The door opened after the third knock, and an apologetic looking Calla came in with a simple vase in hand. "There are visitors from Norden HQ coming to see you, little Tanya." After she opened the door fully, revealing a group of well-built officers.

The slice of apple was still stuck in her mouth before she swallowed the slice whole, almost choking on it. "Cough!" Tanya sucked in her breath. _"Am I going to be reprimanded?"_ She whispered in shock, after all, she had failed to delay the enemy until reinforcements arrived.

Alberich whispered back. _"I don't think so."_ It would be unreasonable to get angry at a soldier who almost died following their orders, and said order was suicidal in the first place. Alberich quickly stood up, saluting the officers and stating his rank and name while in the background nurse Calla hastily put the flowers in the vase and made a hasty escape.

Looking at their expressions, they seemed to be in a good mood so Alberich and Tanya calmed down. "Ahem." The highest ranked personnel, that Alberich noted from his shoulder guard ranking him as a Colonel, fished out an official looking letter, a lot fancier than usual. "Here is a decree from the upper brass, Second Lieutenant Degurechaff! During the battle with-"

Alberich watched the Colonel reading a short list of achievements, basically they considered that Tanya had succeeded in detaining the enemy soldiers, protecting friendly artillery units and managed to score four confirmed and two unconfirmed kills. It was a very brief, precise and lack of flowery words for a speech to someone they considered a hero.

"The Imperial Army recognized your courage and effort, and to you... we award the Silver Wing Assault Medal." He finished with relish, followed by clapping from their comrades. The older officers were oblivious of the two children's mood wasn't in sync with theirs.

Did they hear that right? Wasn't that medal the highest honor and value in the Imperial Army? Tanya was frozen stiff at how generously her effort was awarded, but she couldn't bring herself to be happy. While Alberich just robotically followed the other officers to clap and congratulate Tanya, inwardly thinking, Tanya was really screwed. Won't they send their new hero to the frontline by the first train at this rate? Of course there won't be any Child Protection Services that would step forward for Tanya's sake in this era.

There's no medal that could be seen, these guys were here just to inform Tanya the good news. "The awarding ceremony's date isn't decided yet, but unfortunately because of what happened recently, and with your injured state, it would be delayed for a while."

 **Liar!** Tanya and Alberich thought in unison, weren't they just delaying the pomp and ceremony to make a grander one for propaganda purposes and drag it on as long as they could to fan national spirit in the Empire?! The propaganda-dept will milk this for all its worth.

Alberich caught Tanya's pleading gaze, well- more like a helpless look. Shaking his head, Alberich could only sigh. _'There's no way I can get you out of this one…'_

 _'Goodbye peaceful life, and hello bullshit days of a hero.'_ Tanya thought, barely noticing Alberich patting her shoulder in a show of sympathy as they watched the group of officers left the room.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Central, Imperial Army Headquarters, Manpower Department Branch's Head Office.**

Lt. Col Rerugen had a headache, as no one in his department was going to support him to reject the join signature from Norden to give a certain wunderkind the most valued medal in their army. She just finished her deployment training and was just about to graduate, not earning a medal after almost killing herself delaying hostile forces in Norden.

So he could only watch with a heavy heart when the letter was sent this morning to Norden, informing the awardee of the good news and delayed grand ceremony that was requested by the propaganda department themselves. The surreal image of a little girl in OCS screaming and kicking junior cadets was still fresh on his mind, followed by the almost execution by the same girl.

 _'If her friend wasn't there…'_ Someone's brain would be painting the OCS's training ground.

He had ran a background check on Tanya Degurechaff, and it was as clean as a new sheet of paper. As Einzbern informed him beforehand, Degurechaff was a foundling of a deceased soldier. The orphanage was also a normal one, cared by a group of dedicated nuns who wouldn't mistreat the children. The financial situation of that orphanage was a bit tight in recent years, but not to the point where their children were starved and the psych evaluation says the kids were quite healthy considering their situation.

And there's another variable by her side.

Alberich Beilschmidt, also an orphan with a deceased soldier parent. His background on the other hand, while as clean as Degurechaff's, does have some odd details. He wasn't a bastard like Degurechaff, but was abandoned by his soldier father who couldn't take care of him when his wife passed away from child birth. Nothing odd with this because a soldier wasn't an ideal single parent. However, Beilschmidt was adopted once before being returned back to the orphanage at the age of three. The middle-aged couple that adopted him were also clean, and now they were taking care of a relative's child as their adopted children.

 _'The boy, when he was in our care, was strange, he couldn't stay still and we can't understand him at all. He is so unlike normal children, it's unnerving. So we can only give him back to the orphanage'_ Was the confusing testimony when his friend from intel-dept tried to inquire further.

Strangely enough even with this, Rerugen wasn't so worried about Beilschmidt's mental stability like he does Degurechaff's. In OCS, Beilschmidt was described as an introvert boy but not completely closed off to the idea of friends. He was quite a pleasant individual to know as long as his classmates made the move to befriend him first. He tend to daydream when idle, but it does wonders to his talent in developing spells. In short, unlike Degurechaff in spite of possessing maturity unfitting of a child, his personality wasn't that of an ideal soldier even though they should have a similar upbringing.

The evaluations of other instructors aside, including an over-embellished one from Einzbern, also rated the boy highly, with some notes about random zoning out moments and other minor issues. Though some did note they had a concern about the boy's independence from Degurechaff which made Rerugen scratch his head in confusion.

He had gone out of his way asking for a early report from Schwarzkopf to know how the boy fared without Degurechaff around. Schwarzkopf had nothing but praises for the boy, very obedient, eager to contribute and, even though he was a bit shy and awkward like any other new recruit, he could get along well with his seniors relatively quick. The boy even thought up a solution to the muddy water problem that had plagued the Rhine Theater for years. It won't win the boy war merit or medals, but it boosted his personality evaluation a lot to Rerugen as the boy had shown an attentiveness for people's needs.

In short his instructors' worry was unfounded, Beilschmidt was totally fine without Degurechaff around. Were they mistaking it for the other way around? Shouldn't they worry about Degurechaff without Beilschmidt? Rerugen was most inclined to think so, considering what the girl had gotten herself into in Norden.

"Maybe we should assign these two as a pair." Beilschmidt could act as her handler, it wasn't like he didn't do that all this time. That incident back then happened when that girl was out of her childhood friend's sight after all.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Central, OCS**

After everything was said and done, Alberich still just had to ask Instructor Einzbern if there are any plans to throw Tanya to the line of fire as she was the Empire's new heroine. For good or bad, Tanya was his friend and they had survived together in this harsh, so he couldn't just turn a blind eye on Tanya's fate.

"Rear line duty?" He echoed in shock.

Instructor Einzbern nodded, "I am surprised myself, but I suppose it won't look good if Degurechaff is stationed in the foremost frontline again…"

And why did you do so in the first place? Just because she was conveniently there? Typical of rationalistic and practical Imperial Army. "I see…"

"I know you're happy for Degurechaff, but…" He leaned in, whispering. "I think you should worry for yourself more, it's confidential until you get the letter but it seems you're going back to Rhine."

Alberich resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "I will do my duty as ordered… No offense Sir, but..." Sending another ten year old to Rhine was contradicting what they just said about Tanya.

"I think so too, you being with familiar people is the upside I'd say…"

Which meant First Lieutenant Schwarzkopf asked for him back to Rhine. "If you say so, Sir."

"I think it's just to give you plenty of experience on the field before having you join my training department." Instructor Einzbern informed him. "So hang in there, and we will do a lot of fun things with other expert mages." The older mage winked.

He grinned at that, "I don't know, Sir. Maybe I will get too comfortable in Rhine. Especially since my skin is sensitive to sun." For reasons known only to Being X, both Alberich and Tanya had pale skin.

"Nonsense…" Instructor Einzbern shrugged in an exaggerated fashion. "White bread can only be eaten on the rear, you know?"

They both laughed, knowing very well they shared a common dislike for the dark colored bread everyone on the front eat. "If you don't mind, Sir… where did they assign Tanya then?"

"Eeh… they will wait until she is cleared from the hospital by the end of the month." Even with magic, broken and fractured bones like Tanya has took time to recover. "But maybe the training-dept too." Last time he saw his friend, Rerugen seems to be keen on the idea of putting his protégé in a pair with Degurechaff. However, unlike his childhood friend, Alberich had not gained sufficient experience on the field to be pulled all the way to the rear yet.

"Eeh… Tanya and training recruits is a bit…" After the last disaster, he'd rather not see her anywhere near new recruits.

He was of the same opinion as Alberich. "Don't worry, she won't… there are plenty of jobs in our department that doesn't involve teaching impressionable rookies." Instructor Einzbern assured him.

Wow, all things considered, this had gone swimmingly well for both of them. "I see…"

"By the way, the Mage Management Bureau is going to give Degurechaff a honorable second name in addition to the silver wing medal."

Second name? He recalled that was a 'named' status given by their own allies as opposite to one given by enemies. "Hoo… what are they going to name Tanya with?" He was laughing now, imagining Tanya's reaction. "We already have our very own loli mage." It was an awful nickname, as opposite to his wizard-boy nickname that was more of a stating the obvious rather than a mocking insult.

"I get early spoiler…" Instructor Einzbern cleared his throat, "It would be… Tanya, the silver wing… Argent."

Alberich's smile turned stiff at that, "That sounds honorable indeed." Said his mouth while inwardly he was thinking, _'It's official… Imperial people have a terrible naming sense, of all things they call her 'white silver' as if her character is pure and noble.'_ To him, who knew about Tanya's real character, that sounded like the worst joke of the century.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **BTW if you see the cover, the boy on the photo is what Alberich looks like. I want him to have similar hair to Armin from Attack on Titan like bob cut but... in space battle forum, Rastalaan and his fic "Path to Enlightenment" told me he/she imagine his/her Si with the same hairstyle when I offered to draw him.**

 **Wow, what a coincidence or maybe it's just looks good. So I decide to re-design Alberich from eye shape to hairstyle. Because the theme is fairy, I try to find fairy-ish style that's not long and end up with his current hairstyle. All things considered, I am a thousand times happier with his current look.**

 **Have a fun Monday~ and drop some soul food for this starving author please!**

 **3rd Revision by Mr War**


	8. 7th Record

**The good news, this chapter is out earlier than I thought.  
**

 **The bad news... I am halting next update for clean up before going further.**

 **I will mention MMB several times in the story, they're Mage Management Bureau... early translation called them Office of Sorcery in manga.**

* * *

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **7th RECORD**

 **Scent of War**

Looking at the gloomy grey cloud above Rhine really ignited his soldier's spirit, or not.

Even after a week back to Central, this place didn't look any better. While he was happy to work under First Lieutenant Schwarzkopf again, Rhine wasn't his first choice for a workplace. And it wasn't even the terrible food, or the gloomy weather, but the growing tension in the West that could snap at any moment.

The reason? Newspaper imported from the Republic had disappeared from circulation in the Empire before he could get his hands on one, as if the Republic was afraid to share any news about their domestic situation. No one seemed to mind the absence of newspaper only few could read, and in the first place it was aimed for merchants with business in Republican soil and politicians. He could read them because of Tanya, she said that the newspaper is an excellent reading material to learn new languages. It was amazing how age digression made memorizing new languages easier.

Alberich just hoped he was overthinking this, and if not he hoped that he wasn't the only one worrying. He didn't have a vast network of information, and in an era without the Internet, information wasn't cheap. If all traffic from the Republic, either products or people, stopped that would be a clear sign that their neighbour was up to no good. Neither he nor Tanya had evidence to confirm this, and he was reluctant to alarm Instructor Einzbern. Especially since the upper brass was now occupied with what to do about Legadonian soldiers that not only brazenly crossed their border, but also had the nerve to issue an ultimatum.

From the perspective of a peace loving modern person, Alberich won't even consider fighting back and just ignore Legadonia's nonsense. The dog barks, and the caravan passes by… especially if it was a defeated dog with no dignity. Alberich was pretty sure now that the Legadonian Army hates their politicians even more than their enemies do. If all goes well, the Legadonian people would kick those fools out of their cushy seats themselves and present the heads to appease his country.

But that was all wishful thinking, of course.

"Now, I have to do my job in this underworld well…"

"What do you mean by Underworld?" The familiar voice of a certain mood maker snapped him from his thought.

That was when Alberich realized he had reached the station's entrance, where his squadron mates were waiting for him. There was Schwarzkopf, Sean, Marco and last but not the least was Armin Krause who, like his surname, had curly light brown hair on top of his head. This man, who was about Schwarzkopf's age, was also his new flight leader and soon to be wingman.

Alberich turned as red as his hair, "Un, please don't mind my nonsensical mumbling, Sir!" He saluted, "Warrant Officer Alberich Beilschmidt reporting for duty!"

Second Lieutenant Armin just chuckled softly, "You know our squadron, we're not big on formality… be at ease."

"Thank you, Sir."

Over his shoulders, Sean's heavy arm clung like a limpet. "And welcome back to Rhine, where the sky is as depressing as ever, the ground is muddy~" He wiggled his boot that had mud caked on, most likely it was raining just now. "And with the freshest air courtesy of a smoking factory's chimney in the Empire!"

"Right… thank you." Was Alberich's flat reply as he shrugged the heavy arm off of his shoulders. "You're heavy, Sergeant Sean."

"So, why did you call Rhine underworld again?" Schwarzkopf asked.

Alberich froze, and at the curious looks he got they won't let his random comment go. "Well.." So he explained why, and apologized to the people of Rhine for implying they're citizens of the Underworld.

"Ha ha ha, you have a good sense of humor Beilschmidt!" Second Lieutenant Krause patted his back heartily. "It would be fun to have you as my wingman." His previous one had lupus and he had to resign from duty. So there was an open spot for a rookie like Alberich.

He saluted, "I will not disappoint you, Sir!"

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Few days later, Norden Garrison's medical room**

Tanya was bored out of her mind, but there was nothing she could do since she would be released next week, and the nurses wanted her to recuperate fully before returning to her duty. They said she had to rest properly, and not be thinking about her duty. They even confiscated the newspaper Alberich brought last week for her.

"Look, little Tanya… the roses are drying nicely."

Tanya just smiled stiffly, wondering why Nurse Calla bothered to tell her about the roses she told Alberich to get rid of. Well, he did but those roses didn't get out of her sight either as he went straight to the nurse's office and shared them to all the nurses as a gift for taking care of Tanya. It was a foul play passing over a gift someone else rejected, but Alberich and his glib tongue- _she shouldn't have taught him that_ \- said the roses will wither soon and so he couldn't bear to let his friend Tanya watch the flowers die.

Which was why the nurse preserved the roses they got with all kinds of methods they inherited from their mothers and grandmothers. After Alberich left, Tanya had received twice the amount of pampering from these nurses because that boy entrusted Tanya's care to them.

"Yes, they are pretty." Most likely Alberich was doing this without thinking it thoroughly. From the very little she knew of his family in his past life, he came from those families of strict propriety with a habit of giving away gifts to neighbors routinely either for a particular celebration or coming back from a holiday trip. It was so hammered into his bones, that the boy didn't even notice how overly generous and polite he appeared sometimes.

The nurse sighed at her half-hearted reply, "Just for this one time since you are behaving well, Tanya… here is a newspaper to occupy your time."

Tanya cheered up at that and took the offered newspaper with her uninjured hand and spread it over her blanket, not even paying attention to the nurse's resigned look when she left.

"Hm?"

It seemed their upper brass and politicians were discussing what to do about Legadonia. It would most likely take a while, and the situation in Norden had calmed down. Legadonia was still under scrutiny from the allies for their latest stunt. Diplomacy was bound to fail after Legadonia's discourteous show of what they think about the Empire laying claim on Norden. They could only hope for a foreign intervention to mediate this mess and leaving the clean up to the politicians and diplomats of both nations.

So… why is the Unified Kingdom not clamoring to mediate another treaty yet? Or the Republic pressuring either one of the conflicting countries? Maybe because this conflict just happened recently, they took the approach of 'wait and see'.

"Tanya, there's a letter for you from young Alberich…"

Tanya's eyebrows rose at that, "Alberich sent a letter?" Not a telegram means he didn't want it to be seen by anyone else, she thought as she accepted the letter.

The nurse soon left, and Tanya torn the envelope open. As expected, it was written in their old word's alphabet. It surprised Tanya that Alberich was writing in cursive latin alphabet, but the language was Japanese. "I got to burn this letter then…" It would be bad if this letter was discovered and people suspect them of using a secret code.

She was reading through the first paragraph before leaning in enthusiastically. "Lucky!"

He was telling her good news that she didn't have to worry about doing frontline duty, she would be assigned to the training dept even ahead of him because she got plenty of field experience now. Yeah, almost dying was _plenty_ for her.

"Ehe he he…" She smiled smugly, it would seem that their superiors are starting to grow a conscience about sending children to the frontline. "Easy life on the rear, here I come." Hm, that was just the first page, what's on the next page?

Her eyes widened at the latter half of the letter, in which Alberich informed her about the missing Republican newspaper from the Imperial market. He wasn't sure, but a store owner in Rhine selling beauty products told him, when asked, that the product he imported from the Republic came late and that he couldn't contact his supplier. It was too early to draw a conclusion but Alberich was getting nervous, especially since he was posted in Rhine for field experience before he could take his rightful post in the Training Department.

Tanya bit her lower lip, _'They're preparing for war… it's not confirmed if the Republicans will declare war, but it will depend on what happens in Norden.'_ Or rather, what the upper brass would do about Legadonia.

At this critical juncture their superiors better not be making mistakes, or the ones who were on the bottom would suffer.

She was about to crumple the letter, before tearing it to bits, when a much smaller scrap piece of paper fell on the still opened newspaper on her blanket. "Hm, what is this?"

 _I almost forgot, but congratulations for the medal._

 _Even if you don't want it._

 _Also, the MMB is going to give you a Second Name._

 _You already know that Imperial citizens have a terrible naming sense._

 _Be prepared to cringe._

 _Sincerely yours,_

 _Alberich._

Tanya stared at the small additional letter before shredding all of them into the smallest pieces over the waste basket beside her bed. She snuggled back to her blanket and stared at the white ceiling of the medical room in despair at the upcoming ceremony.

They…

They're not going to give her a fairy themed name, are they? That _guy_ just had to ruin her day!

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Rhine, Sentry Base 03**

They had high altitude acclimation training today and all of them were tired from getting themselves comfortable in a 7000ft height. "Training's over!"

When it comes to orthodox and basic tactics of aerial battle, it was never recommended to fly up in a height above standard operation limit of 6000ft. There would be many spells running in parallel to keep an aerial mage's body functioning well, such as oxygen regulation, pressure control on top of the flight spell and mage's shell. However, whatever the manual says could go obsolete by the first minute of real battle on the field.

Alberich supposed that in all fields the principle was the same, abide by the manual for groundwork but never limit your mind by it. "That was tiring." Alberich commented idly as he gulped down his canteen of water.

His teammates were paying close attention to him today, and for a good reason since they had an intense training and, as the youngest rookie, they had to make sure he wasn't forcing himself. Alberich quickly saluted and made his report. "Warrant Officer Beilschmidt is in prime condition, Sir! No illness and injury to report, Sir!"

"Warrant Officer Wolfgang reporting, Sir! No illness and injury to report, Sir!"

"Warrant Officer Ludwig reporting for health check, Sir! No illness and injury to report, Sir!"

Their flight leader, Second Lieutenant Armind nodded. "Even if it's just nausea and dizziness they should be reported, Aerial Mages should always do their duties when their condition is no less than the best! Do you understand?"

 **"Yes, Sir!"**

Of course, this was an important report because, even though Aerial Mages were sturdier than infantry soldiers, they were working airborne and it would be instant death if their flight spell failed. "Let's eat and restore our energy! One of our obligations is eating, you know! The best there is! Ha ha ha!"

As ridiculous as it sounded, being a mage that utilizes mana constantly meant a high calorie consumption three times the amount used up by a worker of heavy labor in a day. Which means, even at the worst point of war, a mage would never get their meals discounted. Food was their ammo so to speak, and as Krause said it was part of their duty to never skip a meal.

"Urk-"

Wolfgang, who sat beside Alberich, pushed a cup of water towards him, "Keep eating, you have to stock up more food in your belly. Especially since you have the largest mana capacity here." Said his former classmate, of the two he was the calmer and caring one. Apparently he had three rowdy younger brothers at home, so he was more mature than most because he was the father figure of his family since his father passed away years ago.

Alberich took a small sip to help the food go down, it won't do if he got full from water. "Haa… eating this much is pure torture."

"At least you don't have to deal with the lethargy from expending mana." Ludwig added with a huff. "Stuffing ourselves is easier." Ludwig said in between gobbling his food, he was the more brazen of the pair and slightly immature. He was quite jealous of Alberich's talent in magic, and ranked third in their class because he was smart. However, the target he aimed to surpass was Alberich but not Tanya, who was in second rank. Maybe because Tanya was a girl.

The red haired boy grunted, "A teenager in their growing period like you has three times the appetite of a boy like me, especially when you had just hit your growth spurt."

"Whatever you say, Beilschmidt." Ludwig waved his spoon for emphasize.

By the way, these two former roommates of his were also posted in Rhine. They had went ahead of him because he had made a stop in Norden first to visit Tanya. Now, all of them were flight-mates under Second Lieutenant Krause's command.

"Hoou… so Beilschmidt never exhausted his mana?" Their leader, Krause asked curiously.

Alberich was too engrossed in stuffing himself slowly to answer, so Ludwig did in his place. "Yeah, this little guy is a mana powerhouse. It makes me wonder where they store them… he and Degurechaff." He put the tip of his forefinger and thumb together. "They're so tiny…"

The red haired boy paid the jab no mind, he was a very petite girl that barely reached five feet in his previous life so he couldn't feel offended by being called tiny at nine years old. Tanya would mind, she was taller than the average Japanese man in her past life after all. Speaking of Tanya, she should be out of the hospital by today and had her award ceremony in a few days, or was it tomorrow for the Silver Wing Assault Medal and another one would be held on a later date for her second name?

The longer she was dawdling on the rear for pomp and ceremony, the longer she escaped from the front line predicament. _'Aah… the bread is dry and tasteless, and the soup is watery.'_ He knew by logic that it made sense to overfeed mages, but stuffing himself with these sub-par foods was really an ordeal. When he wasn't fed sufficiently in the orphanage, he never imagined he would one day resent being overfed like this. Next time he was given permission to visit Rhine's market, he had to stock up on some seasonings to smuggle back to camp.

"Are you alright, Beilschmidt?" Asked Wolfgang. "Would you like some digestive medicine?"

 _'Thank you for being here big brother Wolfgang,'_ thought Alberich as he nodded weakly. If he moved too much, he was afraid he would puke. _'Being X, just for the terrible food in the Empire, I might come to hate you as much as Tanya does at this rate.'_

Schwarzkopf, their squadron commander, came in with a grim face. "Someone turn on the radio, the decision from upper brass is out."

Alberich had just swallowed the digestive medicine Wolfgang gave him, but he was sure the stomach drop he felt wasn't because of the medicine but the impassive voice and somber mood around their commander. _'God, please… don't tell me it is what I think it is…'_

The radio was turned on, and they waited with bated breathes.

 **The Reich Empire has declared a state of war exists between us and the Legadonia Federation,**

 **and their territories as of today, twenty fourth of-**

The Empire had declared war on Legadonia, and not just over the disputed territory of Norden, but also fully intends to annex Legadonia's lands. If it was just to protect and claim Norden, their northern theater would be enough, but the upper brass had dispatched the highly mobile concentrated main force to make Legadonia submit to them.

 _'What have you done? If one of the Great Powers make their move… this country will-'_

 _Crackle! CRACK!_

"Beilschmidt!" Ludwig shouted at him, snapping him out of his clouded thoughts. "Get your mana under control!"

That was when Alberich looked down, seeing his computation jewel was crackling with uncontrollable excess mana. He quickly withdrawn the energy, and the device quickly rests back to his chest. "I…"

Schwarzkopf exchanged a glance with Krause, their eyes narrowed at the red haired boy, who was still out of sorts, while Wolfgang herded him to a bathroom to wash his face. The boy looked pale and unwell even though, just a minute ago, his only problem was overeating.

Their training schedule couldn't be rearranged easily, but Schwarzkopf was determined to keep the rookies in good condition during their stay in his unit. So a few days later, the rookies were given a day off.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Rhine, City of Industry.**

"Our main destination for our rare day off is undoubtedly a pub!" Ludwig decided, "I want some booze."

Wolfgang chided him, "Beilschmidt can't go there, and we only have a day… you don't want to train with a hangover, do you?"

Ludwig glared at a sheepish Alberich. "Why do we have to babysit you?"

At that line, both Alberich and Wolfgang stared at him unabashedly. Their eyes saying, _'Are you serious?'_ Obviously the one who needs to be watched over wasn't their resident little mage.

Alberich cleared his throat, ending that line of conversation about who babysat who. "Anyway… I plan to visit a couple of places in the market, I don't think it would be fun for you guys, so you can go have some fun and meet up again by lunchtime in some restaurant."

Wolfgang and Ludwig exchanged glances, recalling what their commander told them last night. _'Keep an eye on him, and report if he behaves oddly.'_

"We will join you." Wolfgang said in a tone that left no room for discussion.

Alberich shrugged, most likely they thought he was a kid so he couldn't be trusted to wander alone. "Suit yourself guys…"

"Hmp!" Ludwig didn't want to join them, but he had his orders.

"Why don't we have a light meal, first? If you want to take a long walk, we better get some food and drinks." Wolfgang suggested, pointing at a quaint looking cafe.

Alberich perked up, "Sounds good."

At first they were afraid their friend was under suspicion for treason, but their commander assured them it was not the case. Alberich seemed anxious since Norden's incident, and it was understandable since Degurechaff, his childhood friend was hurt badly. They were worried about his wellbeing, especially since this boy was entrusted to them by a reputable major.

As soon as they sat down, they made their orders and when the waitress left Wolfgang started a topic. "Degurechaff's award ceremony is today, right?"

Alberich drew a blank before recalling today's date. "Yes, unless the propaganda department wants to drag it on longer… It's for her second name today, I believe." They could have put it together with the Silver Wing Medal ceremony, but they prolonged it to raise morale.

"Shouldn't you have taken a train to Central last night to celebrate with her?" Wolfgang asked, in spite of what his other classmates said, as an older brother Wolfgang couldn't even see there being even puppy love between his two little classmates. Perhaps they were more like siblings and he thought Degurechaff would want Beilschmidt to be with her in this auspicious occasion. "You already missed the Silver Wing Assault Medal award ceremony."

Alberich shook his head, "Tanya knows I dislike pomp and merry, she won't mind in the slightest that I wasn't there. Besides… for the whole day she would be in full uniform and paraded around Berun, I will just be watching her if I was there."

"I see."

Ludwig whistled, "It's hard to believe that one of our classmates is already a national hero before graduation, then again she is a wunderkind." He gave Alberich a knowing look. "So, when you will get your very own Silver Wing Assault medal?"

Alberich became quiet at that, barely acknowledging the waitress who placed down the order of three glasses of apple cider with nonexistent alcohol content. "Ludwig… you do realize that you're my flight-mates, right?"

"So?" At Ludwig's cluelessness, Wolfgang could only groan.

"Unless I am detached from the current unit for Artillery observation, the most likely to be in grave danger for me to save to get that medal is you." Alberich told him in a resigned voice. "That medal isn't awarded for years of service or usual war merits… too many people had to be on the edge of death for the Silver Wing Assault medal. There's a reason why that medal has the most value in our army, but it's not that valuable to exchange with our lives. If I can choose I don't want that medal… ever."

That stunned both Wolfgang and Ludwig, even though they already knew Alberich had a good insight, in spite of his young age, they never expected to hear this. Alberich just bluntly declared that the most honored medal in their army didn't worth his comrade's life, because in the end it was just a pretty trinket in the face of irreplaceable life.

"I don't think Tanya would want to repeat it either…" Alberich continued, "Hunted by a squadron of full fledged mages is no joke, she almost died."

His almost loss for Tanya went unspoken, but the two older mages heard him all the same. If Tanya died, to Alberich who was left behind, that medal would be a painful reminder that won't be worth a thing in place of his childhood friend.

"Oh, our food is here." Alberich turned to the side, where the waitress had returned with their orders. He didn't seem like he was unhappy or annoyed, so young and already so good in controlling his emotions!

Ludwig felt ashamed for bringing it up at all, "Right, let's eat…"

Alberich's eyes were drawn to the aluminium foil used to wrap the chicken and mushroom on his plate. "Oh, by the way, since the battle in Norden… the Mage Management Bureau gave Tanya a second name on top of the medal." He trailed off.

Ludwig perked up, it was his dream to get a second name as a mage! "I am so jealous! So what cool name is the MMB giving Degurechaff?" He asked before lifting his glasses, "But first! A toast for our loli mage."

Wolfgang followed, "Degurechaff would kick your ass if she heard you."

Alberich indulged Ludwig's antics, their glasses made a gentle clink as they met. Alberich had one hand holding his glass and the other on his plate, "Cool name, huh? I don't know if it's cool or what but… the name they give her is… Tanya, the Argent." Then he ducked under the table, bringing his drink and food with him.

Wolfgang wasn't so lucky, he saved his food but he had a mouthful of cider sprayed at his face, courtesy of Ludwig's spit take. "Cough! Cough! You must be kidding me! That's the most terrible lie in history!"

Their blond friend, Wolfgang, calmly wiped his wet face. His brother had puked on his clothes before, so he wasn't upset by the cider spray though as an adult Ludwig should have a presence of mind to apologize. "Ludwig…"

"I mean Argent! It's a cool name and all… but it suggests a hero with a noble and pure disposition! Can you call that little girl who stomped my face in magic combat sparing pure? I have seen the look on her face when she beats me up!" Ludwig shuddered, "She is anything but Argent-like!"

Brave? Sure… she was brave enough to beat up men three times her size. Ruthless, of course! If the spar involves magic for sure, her opponent would be black and blue. But pure, that was certainly a joke!

Ludwig leaned forward and whispered to Alberich, who had emerged from his hiding place. "Just why?"

"Even if you ask me, the MMB didn't ask for our opinions and… most likely they just read the report from Norden. They said… "what a courageous and self-sacrificing heroine she was!" Then, because of her medal… they just put together a fitting name." Or so Alberich guessed how the MMB came up with _'Argent'_ for Tanya.

Wolfgang scoffed, "A hero is an idealistic figure, let our people dream a bit."

Yeah, that was what propaganda is about. They thought as they finished their good meal after a long while of sub-par rationed food in sentry post.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Berun, Capital of the Empire**

 **"And to you, the pride of the Mage Corps.**

 **We grant you the second name… Argent!**

 **Tanya of pure silver! For your bravery and pure resolve to protect our Fatherland."**

Or so they said, but Tanya didn't remember if she bravely volunteered to fight those mages. If she recalled correctly, the CP was the one who ordered her to initiate a delaying operation, ignoring the impossibility of such an action. As for resolve, didn't she ask for permission to leave the battlefield immediately when she calculated the impossibility of delaying enemies with one to twelve odds?

Alberich was right, the name she got was cringe worthy, and even though she was forewarned it was really hard to control her facial muscles from cramping. However, such an expression didn't fit the full regalia ceremonial uniform she wore, and if one of those flashing vintage camera caught her improper expression it would be a black mark on her career. So Tanya resolutely kept her face stern and brave, befitting of a national hero.

Oh well, it was just a few days of merry and pomp. She would be posted to the rear if Alberich's intel was right, she preferred logistics or railway dept but she wasn't so picky as long as it was not a life threatening job. Life was good for Tanya Degurechaff.

If Alberich heard Tanya's thought, he would warn her again about Murphy's Law. For someone so pragmatic and logical, Tanya could be overly optimistic at times. She couldn't be anymore wrong about her next deployment.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **South-West of Berun, Elenium Lab 09**

Adelheid von Schugel was in a pinch. His testing personnel, a mage whose name he didn't even bother to remember, had died honorably a few days ago. What an incompetent mage, why did the Imperial Army even paid the idiot if he broke so quickly? When would his masterpiece, Elenium type-95 be completed then?

If only the mage, the component he needed to make his invention perfect, was of better quality… Surely with the vast human resources their Imperial Army possessed there was at least one decent mage he could use, right?

Of course, the scientist never considered that the fault lies in his state of the art operation jewel. He had heard the critics, but what would they know about Elenium Type-95?

"Maybe I should look at a younger batch of mages, a younger mind should be more flexible and easier to acclimate with Type-95."

 **SLAM!**

"Doctor Schugel! That was the third mage you killed this year!"

And here comes the noisy fly, if not for the fact that this guy was a noble and one of his relatives was Schugel's investor he'd kick this guy out of his lab. "Hello, Major Einzbern… fancy seeing you."

Just like how Schugel couldn't mistreat Major Elric Aphonse von Einzbern as he pleased, even with his Chief Engineer rank, Einzbern himself couldn't sue this scientist for abusing his mages. Simply because there was no other scientist more brilliant than Schugel, especially since this man was on the edge of a breakthrough with his Type-95.

An achievement his mages paid with blood to help this mad scientist. "I swear! You can't go on like this! I don't care how much you value that masterpiece of yours, but if you don't improve the safety procedures in your lab; I won't assign anymore mages to you!"

"Major, I don't answer to you. And… I assure you, my research is too valuable to be shut down just because you lose a couple of incompetent mages." Schugel huffed, if anything Einzbern should be thankful he got rid of them for Mage Corps.

Of course, he knew how powerless he was to protect his fellow Mages, "Alright… this is your last chance." But that's only if he was playing fair. "The next mage we give you will be the last testing personnel and I want him or her to be intact and not returned to us in a coffin."

"They would be intact if they can control my masterpiece properly like they should!"

Einzbern went on as if he didn't hear Schugel. "If not, I will pull all the stops to shut down this project. It has killed my comrades, and only promised anything but sufficient result."

"You can't do that!" Schugel paled at the prospect. "You're playing dirty!"

"Indeed, Doctor Schugel." Einzbern was smug. "That's what you get for trying our patience and I assure you, tactical training dept isn't the only one. R&D of the Imperial Army is already seriously considering that your project is a waste of time and resources."

Schugel gritted his teeth in frustration, his monocle quivered as he slammed his fist down, sending the profile papers on his desk flying. "Fine! Just make sure you will give me anyone I requested if this is my last chance!"

"Fair enough." Einzbern stopped in his track, his eyes were drawn on the paper with a photo of his protege. With lightning quick movement, he pulled the sticking out paper from Schugel's profile. "Choosing them now?" Only a few days after he killed his old one, really heartless.

Schugel scoffed, "Give me some time to pick them." He stretched his hand, expecting Einzbern to give it back.

The Major stepped back and crumpled the paper before combusting it with his mana. "This one is off limits." He won't lose Alberich to Schugel, his protege was too valuable to be this mad man's lab rat.

The scientist wanted to protest, but he was already in enough hot water with Einzbern, "Fine, just get out of my sight Major Einzbern."

It was only after he left the lab that Einzbern wanted to hit himself for forgetting to take Tanya's paper too.

But surely he could have a little faith in Schugel's humanity, right? At least he won't put a little girl in danger, right?

Through this self-assurance, never once could Einzbern remember that he didn't believe Schugel won't endanger Alberich if he saw the boy's paper. So where did he get faith that Schugel would be merciful to Tanya?

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **In short even on the rear, Tanya would be screwed.**

 **Oops that didn't come out right...**

 **Anyway, as of now Tanya already got her second name, but I am unsure if 'Argent' is the translation I'd like to use for Hakugin/White Silver So! Voting time!**

[A] Argent

[B] Mythril

 **And also... I want to think up a second name for Alberich too, but I have no good idea. The closest to my image is 'Ardent' but the problem is... it's too close to Argent and while I am aiming for an image of burning flame and characterized by strong enthusiasm or devotion. So! Help me think something up. Tanya gets her name most likely from her medal and silverish blond hair (it is said to have a hint of grey) so... following the theme with Alberich.**

 **Just to make it clearer, the requirement of the second name following Tanya's Argent... is to basically have a color theme associated to said Mage, in Tanya's case... her silverish blond hair and silver medal. And also characterized an ideal image of a hero.**

 **I researched it and Tanya's Hakugin is basically describing a noble and pure person, hence... the reaction from those who knew her character.**

 **There's also... named name from their enemy, Fox bring it up to me so...**

 **[_] Reaper, fill in the blank ^^ but 'Death' is definitely not an option.**


	9. 8th Record

**Hi! Forlorn Storyteller here ^^ welcome to the 8th Record and I hope you enjoy this chapter. My beta is MRouz/Shell and we're working on fixing previous chapters. There would be a long delay but... well RL happens ^^ The good news, I found a beta but more help is always welcome... so I update since it seems it will take a while to fix everything. So expect a longer hiatus next time. Beside, I am going back to Singapore to work so I would be on job hunting. Wish me luck guys!**

 **┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴**

 **8th RECORD  
Stench of War**

 **Back in Rhine, Industrial City**

"Of all things to buy, it's seasoning…" Ludwig couldn't help but scowl at Alberich and Wolfgang haggling with a vendor for a small bag of cinnamon powder. So far they were winning, because the vendor was an elderly woman and their little comrade was emitting a grandson's aura to convince her to give him a discount.

The elderly woman was bashful, "Okay, young boy! I give up!"

"Thank you, grandma!" Alberich was all smiles for getting the cinnamon at half-price.

Ludwig sighed as they walked away from the shop, "If I didn't know better, I would have thought you're a woman… you haggle like my mom."

Alberich just laughed nervously at that, 'I was…' He cleared his throat, "My next stop is going to be a bit awkward for you guys, so… maybe you'd rather not follow me there?"

Both Wolfgang and Ludwig gave the red head a confused look, just what kind of shop would make them uncomfortable but not for him? They found the answer quickly enough when the young mage led them to a fancy looking cosmetic shop. Alberich didn't even bat an eye as he opened the door, the bell above clinking softly as he stepped inside.

Against their better judgement the two Imperial mages resolutely stick to their mission, keeping an eye on their young friend. Alberich was getting adoring looks from the ladies and madame shopping in that shop, most likely they think the boy was here to buy a present for his mother or sister. Only one girl came to the two soldiers' minds when Alberich was concerned.

Ludwig shook his head, waving his hand in a 'no way' gesture to Wolfgang. "You never know." The blond said, from his voice he didn't believe it either.

Degurechaff was a girl, but there's no way she liked these beauty products like normal girls do. So they watched which product shelf Alberich would look at, the boy was the one who knew Degurechaff the best. However, Alberich made a beeline towards the skin cream shelves and didn't stay longer than a minute before approaching a young woman who dressed simply, but it was obvious from a closer look that she was a well bred lady from her posture and bearing.

They came closer, ignoring the confused looks from female kin around them and caught the end of an answer from the lady who apparently owns the shop. "Ah yes, that popular hand cream from Francois has been out of stock for a while. I am really sorry, dear customer… there seems to be a problem with our shipment and I don't know when we can get it stocked. However, I can offer this sample from Iltoa!"

"Well, I think-"

Ludwig couldn't take watching from the sidelines anymore and asked, "Is that for Degurechaff? Seriously? Would she like that kind of stuff like normal girls do?"

Alberich groaned, it was true he was using Tanya as excuse but- "Ludwig, keep your voice down."

"Oh my! What kind of lady does this young man have in mind?" The sales lady turned her attention to Ludwig, because Alberich wasn't cooperating when asked about his lady love.

Ludwig ran a series of words he could choose to describe a certain loli mage in his mind, and most could get his ass kicked by Alberich. "Erm… a tomboy, active and… smart?" He omitted vicious, sadistic and arrogant as hell, that ought to do it.

"Then this hand cream is perfect for her, especially since it is made with amaryllis!" Alberich conjured up an image of a velvety trumpet like flower with vibrant colors in mind, that didn't sound like Tanya. " The scent of amaryllis is made for refined ladies. Contrary to its opulent appearance, the beauty of the Amaryllis's fragrance lies in its subtlety. In fact, for those who are averse to headier-smelling blooms… their scent is a more preferable choice!"

Alberich let the words washed over him, "Well-"

The next thing he knew, the lady had stuffed a small container the size of his palm into his hand. "I hardly get male customers here and I had to wonder if gentlemen were already extinct in the Empire! So, this sample is on the house for your lady friend."

On one hand it was a freebie, but on the other hand how likely would the girl in question kick him in the rear for giving her this? Tanya was already incensed enough by the roses from before, and Alberich feared she would suspect him to be cajoling with Being X to convince her of her femininity.

Alberich just accepted the generous gift, it wasn't like it was anything new to get all sorts of gifts from older ladies to him. He got what he needed from here after all, so he left after thanking the owner.

"Do you guys seriously have nothing you want to buy yourselves?" Alberich asked curiously.

"I bought the same seasoning like you." Wolfgang admitted, it was an ingenious idea to stock up on some seasoning to improve the taste of sub-par food at their base. It costed them some money though.

Ludwig shrugged, "Then I want to buy a watch, a sturdier one." If one of them didn't split up, Alberich would be suspicious on why Ludwig is following him like a puppy.

Wolfgang, of course, knew this and Ludwig parted ways with them. Alberich paid his silent shadow no mind as he made a beeline to a newspaper kiosk next. He bought a copy of the national newspaper, and a Londigium Times. "Do you have any Republic Today in stock?"

"That Francois newspaper?" The man manning the kiosk scratched the back of his head, "Nope, haven't seen it around for about a week boy."

Alberich asked again, "Is there anything you can do? Have you asked your supplier?"

He shrugged, "I'd love to help but I didn't stock that newspaper a lot in the first place, very few people read them so I didn't really lose profit when it's not on my shelf you know?"

"Do you know any kiosk that might have it?"

The man thought for a bit before answering. "Try asking the kiosk on the west block, Ol'Goddard has all the newspaper from all over the continent in stock in his place."

"Thank you, Sir." Alberich thanked him before making his way to said direction, his expression turned restless and anxious. He was completely oblivious that Wolfgang was watching him closely.

The older mage was now feeling anxiety come in waves from his young friend, 'He knew something… something is coming.'

They reached the mentioned kiosk owned by a very old man with a impressive beard that reminded Wolfgang of Saint Nicholas. Alberich asked the same question, if the man Goddard had any stocked Republican newspaper, had he asked his supplier about the shipment and what's the problem?

Goddard scratched the back of his head, his eyes narrowed as he glanced at Alberich and then to Wolfgang. He had seen all sorts of people buying newspaper in his kiosk, and even though this one was too young Goddard could tell from the boy's gait and firm voice. This was a soldier, and an anxious one.

He looked left and right, no one was within hearing distance so he leaned in and whispered. "If you're thinking what I'm thinking, you're right young soldier… Republican's product and traffic to the Empire is trickling down less and less like closed tap water."

His green eyes widened, "There's no problem with their railway or anything?"

"No, no problem whatsoever… not as far as I know. All goods from Francois are things like cosmetics, wine, pharmaceuticals… and so-"

The shelf life was long enough unless it was a new product or happened to be out of stock at this time period, the absence of imported goods for a few weeks won't be too glaring. At least not to the majority of the Empire's Citizens.

"So if your fear is that the Republic is up to no good, you're most likely right." Goddard drew away, looking even older than his age now.

Alberich gripped his fist so tightly, he almost drew blood. "Thank you for your contribution to the Fatherland, good sir." He saluted the man, before leaving the premise with his face as dark as a storm. Alberich cursed inside his mind, 'Damn-damn-damn! All of these little signs point to one thing… we're screwed!'

Wolfgang followed Alberich silently as they made their way back to their base, they didn't even remember Ludwig was left behind. Alberich went straight to bed, trying to sleep off his headache and churned stomach. Wolfgang on the other hand, he went straight to their commander.

 **┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴**

Meanwhile, in Berun

"The silver winged Tanya Degurechaff..." Schugel was gleeful now, "Very young and talented, everything I ask for in a newest test personnel for my masterpiece!"

His assistant, a man with the face of a docile bulldog with less wrinkles and slit eyes came over. "But professor… that's the Empire's new national hero." Won't there be a political shit storm if Schugel killed her in their experiment?

Schugel of course didn't care about politics, "So what, that Major promised me that I can ask anyone I want!" Except the one that the Major stole from him, Schugel might just choose that mage just to spite Einzbern.

"She is just a child…"

"All the more reason to hire her, then! I need a mage with a more flexible mind to operate Type-95!"

At that moment the assistant wondered if it was for the best to kill this madman here and now, but logic and devotion to the Empire won over. If this girl crawled from the edge of death in Norden, she should be able to survive Schugel, right?

 **┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴**

 **Rhine, Sentry Post 03**

This lethargic feeling due to his exhausted body and mind was quite familiar to this body. He just had a day off yesterday, so why did he feel so worn out? Maybe because the harsh truth came crashing down on Alberich, even if he pray so desperately, reality was a cruel mistress. Just like when his family realized his youngest brother would have to live with autism for the rest of his life and even if they wanted to believe otherwise, his family didn't have the same fortune with his youngest brother.

Though this time, the extent of this harsh reality was on a global scale. Even if he closed his eyes, it won't help him or the Empire. Should he and Tanya run from the Empire now? But where? If it was a World War coming, there would be hardly any places that could escape the flames of war. Well, there was one country.

The Unified States of Arkansas, the America of the pre-WW of this world. If his fuzzy memory of world history served correctly, this young Great Power would sit on their laurels while helping the allies. Largely uninvolved unlike the Unified Kingdom across the sea, but they would be the one who will reap the prize by the end of the war.

'As if…' The only seaport in the Empire is in the North, and it was in war now. It wasn't like he or Tanya had enough money to cross the continent anyway. 'Stupid upper brass, aren't you supposed to be a powerful fortress of logic and knowledge? Did you feed your brains to the dogs that you think attacking Legadonia and leaving the other border open is a brilliant idea?' Of course, even if he cursed Strategic HQ to high heaven, nothing would change and his heart wasn't soothed. Besides, if he thinks of the situation clearly, there must be politics in play to pressure their army to make this move.

He rolled out of his bed, landing on the floor noisily but there was no pain as he was still wrapped in a blanket. Ah, he didn't want to care about the world, but then he would die again if he does not. His past life sure was good, even if you don't care about the world or your country, you were in no danger of dying. What a carefree life it was.

"Beilschmidt…" Wolfgang and Ludwig who, for once, woke up earlier than him, poked their heads to their shared room. "Are you alright?"

He didn't stand up, inclining his head up so he saw them by the door upside down. "Peachy… oh yes, I am sorry for forgetting you yesterday, Ludwig."

Strangely Ludwig didn't seem to be angry, usually the brunette would throw a tantrum by now. "It's fine..." He looked restless instead of angry however. "Erm… Commander Schwarzkopf is asking for you."

He sat up at that, "I will be ready in five minutes." Even if the world was heading to hell, as a soldier he still had to do his job properly. So he put on his uniform, wash his face and brush his teeth before heading to his commander's office. As soon as he entered Schwarzkopf's office, he could feel something wasn't right.

"You're asking for me, Sir?" He didn't recall doing anything that would get him in trouble lately.

Schwarzkopf motioned for him to close the door, and to take a seat across the chair he occupied. "Warrant Officer Beilschmidt, I am your squadron commander and that alone means I am responsible for you." The first lieutenant began in a solemn voice. "Not to mention, a friend of mine placed you under my care…"

Now he was confused, what was Schwarzkopf up to with this talk? "I understand, Sir?"

"Which means if there's something on your mind, even if it's a sensitive topic that could get most junior officers in trouble… you don't have to hold back from telling me in private." Schwarzkopf finished, explaining his original intention. "You have been investigating something in Rhine City."

It was like cold water poured over his head, clearing up his clouded mind. Alberich felt his chest tighten with panic, while cursing his obliviousness. He should have known something was up when Wolfgang and Ludwig insistently followed him around yesterday. Alberich felt a bit betrayed, but this was obviously on Schwarzkopf's order.

His eyes shifted to the side, afraid to look at his commander's eyes. "I assure you, Sir… I was just-"

"Of course as part of protocol, I raised up the possibility of you being a spy…" Schwarzkopf trailed off. "But your flight mates vouched for your credibility, and I don't have slightest doubt in your character…"

Alberich didn't know his tensing shoulders had relaxed at that. "I am sorry that I have behaved suspiciously, Sir."

Schwarzkopf nodded, inwardly he thought the possibility of Alberich as an hidden enemy spy was laughable. The boy wasn't an open book, but he wasn't so hard to read and from this conversation, it was obvious the boy wasn't used to lying. "It's fine… but in exchange, tell me what bothers you so much for the last few days? I have heard reports from your friends about what you did in Rhine, but I don't know the details."

Alberich swallowed, he was afraid but since Schwarzkopf had expressed that this was not a formal interrogation, he should be able to speak freely. Besides, if his commander took note of what he said, the chances of their survival in this border would raise exponentially. It would draw attention to himself, but it was better than being dead.

"...If you don't know where to begin with, what if I ask you." Schwarzkopf trailed off, "How likely would the Republic attack our Rhine region?"

He took a deep breath, "That's above our pay grade, Sir." Alberich answered promptly, a thin smile on his lips. "However… it seems inevitable, they might attack us." He stopped, "No… the Republic will have no choice but to attack us soon."

Schwarzkopf sucked in his breath, he had a bad feeling when Warrant Officer Wolfgang reported Alberich was snooping around about the Republic in Rhine. This was why this young boy was so shaken when their country declared war on Legadonia.

"Why?" He almost choked this out. "How do you know that?"

How did he know this? Alberich shook his head, "It's all conjecture… but there are the signs for the last few weeks." He took a deep breath. "The first time I noticed was when I came back from visiting Second Lieutenant Degurechaff in Norden, I wanted to look for a Republican newspaper to see what they have to say about Norden."

It was rare for a soldier, and someone this young, to go out of his way reading the foreign newspaper to see a different outlook of international relationships. He wasn't tied by what their national newspaper wrote and leave it at that like most.

"Perhaps I was just paranoid, I thought. So I sent a letter to Second Lieutenant Degurechaff to ask for her second opinion."

Schwarzkopf narrowed his eyes at this, the boy had complete trust in his childhood friend if he divulged such a sensitive topic. "Why did you ask her?"

He smiled at the older mage, "That friend of mine is very knowledgeable about the railway and logistics, and to wage war you need transportation and logistics."

With this kind of insight, he and Degurechaff were already senior officer material. "I see… Then, what did she say?"

He took a deep breath. "Our country made a vast development with our railway for the last ten years for the sake of plan 315, giving our country superior land mobility above the other Great Powers."

Schwarzkopf nodded, "Yes, that's especially true in Rhine and Norden…" The west was their industrial region while the North had mines. "What of it?"

"We have deployed our main force to Norden, all by our military's resources without borrowing any from our people." Alberich was just guessing this, but there's no protest on the newspaper suggest their resources were enough without exploiting private properties. "That's not the case for the Republic… If they want to move their main forces, they would need longer and their railway would be taxed to the brim. So most likely they have to borrow private trains too…"

Which in turn, means interrupting the shipment of exported goods to Rhine.

"So you asked those merchants because… you want to confirm if Republican products exported to our country is halted?!"

Alberich nodded grimly, "Again Sir, it's all conjecture… just my personal opinion. The jam in their exported goods itself isn't because the Francois Republic wanted to ban their goods to our country, but because they're preparing a large offensive to the point where their army's trains couldn't provide enough for them…"

Tanya had a good grasp about Railway and Logistics, Alberich was no expert like she was. However, Tanya loved rambling about her knowledge, and explaining her thesis when they worked together, so he was bound to pick up some of them.

Schwarzkopf didn't like where this was heading, this make too much sense. "Then…. The newspaper you're trying to get your hands on?"

He raised his finger, "If the army starts to 'borrow' privately owned trains, the country is under enough fear to not care about public backlash and the economy… not when their national security is in danger. So even though the Republic hasn't declare war formally, those affected by this preparation would be clamoring by now."

"Which in turn explains why their newspaper disappeared from circulation." Schwarzkopf finished.

Alberich nodded at that, "There was only the weekly newspaper from the Republic published in the Empire, and it had been gone for about two to three weeks from circulation. Their readership has a very small pool in our country, so it didn't alarm anyone who didn't look..."

The older mage gripped his fist, frustrated. "In Norden, our dispute is with Legadonia… even if they're allies, it doesn't make sense for the Republic to declare war for their sake! So why did you say they had no choice?"

Alberich looked down, "We're the ones who put them in this situation… as the closest Great Power with a conflict of interest with us, they always think they're in danger from us." For them the Empire was the bane of their existence. "Our hostile borders is their safety net, how could they stand by when we wreck the fence on the North. They already can't win in a one front war with us, so for their own national security Francois has to shut us down now while we're occupied by Legadonia in the North… the choice they have is now or never." The never option was unthinkable to a country like the Republic, so their choice became obvious.

"Also… with our main force tied up in Norden, if we… the Rhine border force will have to bear the full might of the Republic…" Alberich trailed off. "Will the main force make it in time to get to us?" Most likely the plan 315 their strategic HQ put together so meticulously would be tested to its limit in this war.

"This…" Schwarzkopf was feeling dizzy, he was a mere Second Lieutenant. He wasn't qualified to process this prediction that would involve their country in total war they didn't know they could win. Delaying them as stated in Plan 315 would be a herculean task, and Rhine's forces might be annihilated before their main army could be deployed. If they lost their industrial area, the fate of their country… And his comrades in Rhine would be the only wall between the Empire and the Republic's full might, casualties in Rhine would be astronomical.

'This wasn't what I wanted to hear.'

At that moment Schwarzkopf looked at the soldier before him, the one who had seen ahead of them.

'What should we do?' The question was on the tip of his tongue

That was when Alberich, at last, looked up at him and Schwarzkopf saw the helplessness of a child plainly seen in this young soldier. "Sir… at this rate… we-"

Schwarzkopf was overcome with shame, that for one moment he forgot himself and tried to rely on his subordinate he should lead. Alberich was a fine soldier, but he was a child that shouldn't be burdened by such responsibility. He stood up and placed his hands on Alberich's shoulder, the boy felt tinier in this close proximity.

"You have been doing well, you did us proud. Now… it's our turn to do something, Rhine will not fall under our watch." He promised firmly.

Even if Schwarzkopf had to stake his career on this, he just had to do something. So that night, Schwarzkopf opened one of his best wine bottles and invited some friends, including some staff officers he had a close relationship with, to have some casual talk. That night, all the officers attending that casual drinking party didn't sleep a wink until sunrise.

In the morning, oblivious civilians manning the cosmetic shop, spirit store, pharmacy and newspaper kiosks had received a couple of peculiar customers. All of them were asking about commodities imported from the Republic, no one paid attention to their darkened expressions as they made a hasty escape without purchasing anything. This continued for the next several days, until Paul Mortiz von Han, the commander of the Rhine Theater himself paid a visit. He also excused himself from every shop he visited without buying a thing, and for each shop he stepped into, his face was getting paler and paler.

No one, except for a certain old man with attentive eyes, had a clue. Goddart just sighed as he watched the third soldier in civilian clothes storm out of Rhine's shopping district today. It seemed that soon, he would have to accept the overdue invitation from his daughter in the South to live with her. The other shopkeepers could only wonder, what's with the recent interest of many gentlemen in Republican products?

 **┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴**

A week later…

Back when they were still living in the orphanage, Tanya's most vivid memory about Alberich was when the younger toddlers around them started to move actively in the room. Being a poor charity organization, the nuns had no funds to invest on a play pen so the younger kids were left in a room together with a couple of nuns taking care of them.

Of course in an era where industry just started to thrive, mass produced goods was a new fad but the orphanage still used bulkier, elaborately decorated and long lasting furniture. This would be fine for an adult's living space but not for children, and definitely not for a dozen children. Every time the nuns take their eyes off of these helpless toddlers, one or two would be in danger of bashing their heads into the sharp edges of the furniture.

Alberich made it his job to prevent this, herding the kids to be away from these dangerous objects. Of course he had his limits, he somehow found a sandpaper block and tried to make the sharp edges on every furniture around them duller. Of course, he was reprimanded by Sister Petronella for this mischief, but then the ever obedient Alberich threw a tantrum, screaming at the top of his lungs about if the sisters want the kids to bash their heads open.

They quickly shut up and since then, in the room where they placed younger kids, the furniture edge was glued with every sort of soft material they could find. That was quite early revolution for these people to know what baby-proof is.

According to Alberich, they should have done this sooner. What does a baby know about pretty carvings? They'd be better off with cardboard boxes, rather than getting these kid's wandering fingers stuck where it didn't belong. When designing anything, it was a basic rule to be concerned of worst case scenarios when the product was in use. Anything without a wit of practicality was just a pretty art piece.

A design should be created with practicality, safety and aesthetic in mind, losing one of them meant the designer had failed to accomplish anything.

'Or so Alberich rambled on back then…' Tanya thought as she descended back to the ground with her parachute.

"Lieutenant Degurechaff!" Roared a certain scientist. "Again! This AGAIN! Why can't you do your job, right?!"

Never had she dearly wished for Alberich to be here and knock some sense to this failed designer. Adelheid von Schugel was the Chief Engineer of the Elinium lab, but in a sense his job was also some sort of a designer, a weapon designer to be exact. Looking at the Elinium-Type 95 hung at her chest, out of the three requirements this state of the art computation jewel failed safety and practicality, as for aesthetic it was debatable. All orbs looked like a steampunk device after all.

This guy already failed as a designer from the get-go since he didn't even understand mil-spec! If this pretty trinket wasn't sturdy enough for her to use as she pleased in a non-combat situation, it has already failed the minimum requirement to be used by a soldier.

"You should be one of the Empire's best! Why can't you operate my Type-95 properly?!" He roared.

Tanya threw her parachute off of her, "Well, Sir! I have to remind you that you should invent a military grade operation orb! If it's not crude enough to stand a little recklessness during test, this orb would never get out on the field! It would be locked in a museum!" She argued back heatedly.

"A museum?!" He turned red and steam was coming out from his ears. "My beautiful Elenium Type-95 is a next generation of the Operation Orb! What good would it do in a museum?"

Tanya continued to walk, "Well, this piece of pretty trinket with no practical value can only serve its purpose there! As a supposed military-grade device, it's a complete failure if it doesn't fulfill the user's demand. Something is designed to meet a user's need, not the other way around." She was no designer, but growing up with Alberich meant she picked up some of his expertise.

For the first time since she worked here, Schugel shut his mouth up. Or rather he was flapping his mouth up and down but no noise escaped. Tanya felt very good, if she had known Alberich's knowledge could be useful like this, she would have lectured this madman with it long ago.

"Well then Doctor, if nothing else… I will be in my room." Take a bath, sleep and write an appeal for labor condition improvement was her to do list today.

 **┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴**

Tanya's personal room

Tanya gritted her teeth as she dipped her body into the warm water, "Uuh… my hands feel cold." Her hands were injured from holding that accursed jewel, so she couldn't get them wet. "I am so beat up and he still complains."

Schugel should be grateful she managed to get them this far. Aside from her, perhaps only Alberich had enough mana capacity to feed that mana vacuum orb.

Unfortunately Alberich has a problem keeping his focus in long periods of time, or rather his concentration ran in parallel with his interest. If he disliked something, Alberich had the attention span of a five year old when working at it.

Anyway, this job was totally out of his scope. He was good at spell creation, refinement and flexible application, but also very rough with his computation jewel. If Alberich wasn't such a good investment for the future of spell development, the boy would be in trouble for breaking down so many orbs in duration of his studies in OCS.

Only the recent issued model, Mk. 13 Operation Orb made by Folkerr Factory lasted to his graduation. Then again, even though she was better in taking care of her computation orb, hers still didn't last as long as their fellow mage's. There was a good reason she could easily break it back in Norden. Most mages didn't have enough capacity to overload their orb.

She had high hopes that this prototype could've helped them with this problem, but it was a bust. The only upside of this thing was, Tanya and Alberich could feed it mana as much as they liked. However, controlling it was like juggling burning bowling pins while walking on a tightrope. In the first place, the concept of a four cores operational orb was painfully simple. Just adding in more engines to the machinery for extra power in performance. The genuinity of Type-95 lies -of all things- in Schugel's ability to miniaturize the cores so the Elenium Type-95 was the same size as a regular computation orb and working with four times firepower.

Ironically that was where the problem began, even someone who wasn't an engineer or designer could tell that making things smaller and finer means a sharp dip in durability. The revolutionary orb could work but it overheats easily, and is unable to process the massive amount of mana it sucked from her continuously without the cores working in sync. She also had to focus all her attention on synchronizing the four orbs, one orb out of sync and the excess mana would go out of control.

If she likened it to a racing car, it would be a dragster. It could only run straight at an incredible speed and nothing else. "And he has the gall saying the test is to get data so the disastrous device could be adjusted to practical standards." And for a military grade weapon at that!

Tanya lowered her head, so the water was up to her lips. A string of curses towards a certain mad scientist was lost in the incoherent sound of bubbling water. Back in her past life, a mad scientist was an amusing character in anime and the likes, but to their test subjects it was no joke. Her life was hanging in the balance here!

"Haa…" Never would she'd imagine working in the rear could be more dangerous than the front line.

 **┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴**

 **Does what happen here prior to the war make sense? Writing a Youjo Senki fic requires more research than any other fic I have written before... =_=' especially history, war tactics and philosophy... Not so much in the Elenium Lab scene as Tanya basically says what I want to say to Schugel about his stupid design LOL**


	10. 9th Record

**So... due to some question raised by previous chapter I decide to publish this, I will updated the previous chapter I edited gradually myself soon.**

 **Anyway, I am writing 11th Record by now. I might end up finishing Elenium arc soon. Anyway! Thanks to Ocean Sailor and Sun Drake for this chapter, and also everyone who review previous chapter.**

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **9th RECORD  
** **Underworld**

 **Strategic HQ, Berun**

"General Han is tightening the security in our western border?" General Zettour, the scholarly strategist of the Imperial Army inquired to his subordinate. "It's very well within his authority as the Western Theater commander." So what's wrong with that?

His old friend Rudersdorf huffed, "Just out with it, Lieutenant Colonel Rerugen… is there something off about this move?"

If anything, they should be happy Paul Mortiz von Han was taking an initiative. He and Zettour were in the same opinion about deploying their main force to Norden and Legadonia, a high risk with a debatable high gain move. This way, their national defense against other Great Powers became dangerously thin. He had thought the younger general was still green and too indecisive to lead a theater, and got promoted because of his connection as a pure noble. Unexpectedly, the younger general had acted wisely at the risk that his region faced when their main force was occupied in the North.

However, if the uneasy look from this reliable subordinate of theirs was any indication, there was something that makes him concerned. Rerugen was one of their many elites, but he was also one of the few bright young men of the Imperial Army who had not only an outstanding record, but also extensive connections with other departments.

"It's just that… aside from the order coming out of the blue without prior warning…" The bespectacled man trailed off. "There's no explanation whatsoever from Paul Mortiz von Han for this theater scaled decision, the general didn't even discuss it with the Western Army Officer Corps."

That perked up the two generals' interest, "Hoo… that's quite brash of him." Rudersdorf commented, "My last impression of General Han was… he is quite cautious, almost timid…"

"And why is that Rerugen?" Zettour asked. "Is there any discontent in the Western Army for this hasty decision?" It would be terrible if their border echelon had an internal conflict.

Their young subordinate seem like he was fighting an urge to scratch his head in confusion. "There's no discontent in the Western Army… the Intel Department is puzzled as well, but most likely because of a rumor." Rerugen said the last word awkwardly as if he wasn't sure it was the word he was looking for.

Zettour frowned, "Rumor?" There was a good reason why in the army, it was hammered to their soldiers to be careful with loose lips.

"It's not quite a rumor, as it is baseless information." He quickly amended, "The Western Theater's soldiers are on high alert for the Republic. It is as if the Western Theater is permeated by the thought that they would be attacked anytime by the Republic now." Rerugen adjusted his glasses, "I am afraid this is worrying, for the whole theater to be in such paranoia all of a sudden." Yes, paranoia was the apt word to describe it.

Zettour and Rudersdorf narrowed their eyes at this, "Hm… Interesting." They were absolutely right too, the Republic was very likely to attack Rhine to protect their national security.

"Did Intel-dept said anything about the Republicans preparing for war then?"

Rerugen hesitated, "It's still under investigation but..."

There were signs of war preparation, but they were still confirming it. After all if it turned out to be true, their Imperial Army would be looking at a massive overhaul of their upper rank personnel, taking responsibility for the terrible suggestion of attacking Legadonia and thinning their internal defense.

"Just leave them be, if anything…" Rudersdorf tapped his cigar on the astray, "I am inclined to believe they're not being overly paranoid." Even though he wished otherwise. "Zettour..."

His old friend nodded, "I will make the preparations... just in case of course."

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Rhine Border, a week later.**

They were on patrol, flying in a squadron formation across the western sky. Ludwig, who was flying side by side with Wolfgang, heaved a sigh. Perhaps it was just him, but lately the patrols around this border were getting tighter. He had a feeling, whatever Commander Schwarzkopf needed from Alberich last week, it resulted to more patrols scheduled than usual. Nobody said anything, but they all knew something wasn't right in their border to cause this tension.

He glanced at the youngest member in their squadron, Beilschmidt had been restless lately too. However it could be easily caused by his childhood friend, who apparently was assigned to be a testing personnel on a confidential project, so the letter would take longer to reach her. Beilschmidt looked quite frustrated that Degurechaff had not answered his letter yet.

Ludwig wondered what they were talking about? It was a common occurrence since their OCS days, for Beilschmidt and Degurechaff to put up a wall around them that no one could tread. As if they were in their own world, and they looked upon this world with something Ludwig and the others couldn't discern. As if they didn't belong to this world in the first place.

 _'Well, appearance wise… they have a strange mystic air about them at times.'_ Degurechaff had those intense predatory smiles, while Beilschmidt had this blank expression as if he was detached from this world.

Even in school, it wasn't just their age that differs them from the rest. Their instructors felt this strongly, which was why they so quickly regarded the two children as reliable individuals. There was something the two young mages know and possess that their superiors instinctively felt couldn't be overlooked. _'This time too…'_

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

Schwarzkopf was getting numb to the silent inquiry looks that his subordinates shot him with their gazes, all of them wanted to ask why they patrolled so often lately to the point training was almost neglected? No one had the courage to ask, or perhaps they already felt the tension in the air that could snap at any moment. Schwarzkopf wasn't sure how much he wanted them to know, but it was a blessing that the Western army was on high alert now.

 _'I can't believe I pulled that off.'_ He might have used enough courage that lasted for a last time to invite his fellow officers, and friends in staff officers to that drinking party.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _"This is a good wine."_

 _Schwarzkopf nodded at his friend, a fellow first lieutenant mage and squadron commander. Hess was also a sommelier and they bonded over spirits. "Indeed." He felt bad that he would destroy the good mood of all the comrades who had come to his place._

 _Hess took a sip, "Chatreuss 1898, one of the Republicans finest wine? You spoiled us, my friend…"_

 _"Hah." A staff officer from logistics Schwarzkopf invited laughed, "Republican wine is good indeed, I will trade my peaked cap for it. But our finest mead is without compare too."_

 _Hess' eyes were drawn to another three unopened bottles that they were about to share between the eight of them. "Hm? They're all Republican wine… why is that?"_

 _He took a deep breath, he knew he couldn't afford this party without predicting Hess' keen eyes for wine would point this out. He even sacrificed all the Republican spirits he had in stock, but Schwarzkopf didn't feel unhappy in the slightest. He won't keep the Republican's shit in his wine shelf in duration of the upcoming war. "Well, gentlemen… because it seems we will be deprived of their wine for a long-long time, so I think we should enjoy it while it lasts." He said in a firm voice, a voice of a soldier that didn't match what he said._

 _That was the cue, all of his friends sat straighter. "Why don't we just buy some for you?" Hess offered, his dark eyes narrowed at Schwarzkopf. "I know this great spirits store that stock the finest alcohol from all over the continent."_

 _As expected of Hess to give him the opening he needed, "I am afraid…" He was truly afraid. "There seems to be some problems with the shipments from the Republic, so there would be no Republican alcohol coming to Rhine…"_

 _The logistics officer, who was in the midst of sipping wine almost choked on his drink, "Wha-"_

 _He turned to another friend of his, an artillery unit commander. "Your wife likes the perfume from the Republic you said before, right? The one brand you said is ripping you off on behalf of the Republicans?" He raised his glass in salute, "Rejoice!" He said in a obviously faked cheer. "There seems to be a shortage of them too in Rhine! Your wife will have to switch brands soon."_

 _Hess and other officers seemed to be confused even though they already had a clue that something was up, the logistics officer, Hemmel looked as white as a sheet of paper. "Even for my headache, there's this one good medicine from the Republic that I drink before. The apothecary says they're out of stock, and that there was nothing we can do because they can't contact their supplier."_

 _The charade went on and now the rest of them were as shaken as the logistics officer, who had gotten the hint earlier. "Schwarzkopf , my friend…" Hess trailed off, his voice was shaking. "I hope you're joking…"_

 _"If I wanted to joke, I will when I'm sober." Schwarzkopf had a strong tolerance for alcohol, so he had only been tipsy after finishing a bottle by himself. "I needed some alcohol in my system for this…" He was smiling bitterly now. "You see… someone told me; to wage war what you need after soldiers are vehicles to transport them, food to feed them and weapons to arm them… do you know our army is the most mobile in the continent because we have been building our railway nonstop for the last ten years?"_

 _The logistics officer, with a name he couldn't recall, nodded vigorously, "Yes, we did… for Plan 315."_

 _"Heh, the Republicans didn't… so! A quiz for you all, how would they get all of their soldiers to the front IF they want to wage war with us?"_

 _Silence fell in the air, and Hess was the first to find his voice. "Ahaha… Schwarzkopf, I think you should be careful with what you're trying to imply."_

 _Schwarzkopf downed the rest of his wine as if it was a cheap booze and said with a tone of finality. "I suggest you guys should go shopping in the town tomorrow." See the situation for yourself and decide if he was lying._

 _They followed his advice, and the same casual talk repeated over and over again until it reached the commander of the Rhine Theater himself._

 _End of Flashback_

* * *

Somehow he had managed to get a summon from Paul Mortiz von Han, the commander of the Rhine Theater. As expected, when Schwarzkopf dared himself to explain the findings of his subordinate that he'd like to remain anonymous for now, the general was very upset. Schwarzkopf was cold with dread when the general was about to brush the analysis off as paranoia.

Schwarzkopf staked his career, and told the general this wasn't a mere case of paranoia. There were prior investigations that made them believe in this prediction. It won't hurt them in the slightest to raise vigilance in their Western army, even if the patrol schedule got more rigorous it won't discredit them. However, if the general chose to ignore this seemingly premature concern, could he take responsibility when their so called 'daydream' becomes a reality?

Much to Schwarzkopf's relief, Paul Mortiz von Han quickly folded after he came back from town, most likely retracing the steps of their comrades in the Rhine shopping district. The general had quickly arranged increasing border patrols for a month under the pretense of keeping their forces on their toes. No one protested, and panic was avoided if they give out too much information, but any members with a shred of an analytical mind already got a clue.

Something was going to happen in the West.

Schwarzkopf wished they could inform Strategic HQ, but anything more than this would incite mass panic and his youngest mage would get in trouble. _'Then again, in the first place mobilizing the main force to the North is a gamble…'_ The upper brass decided this move under the impression that the other Great Powers would just watch Legadonia fall.

Good if they don't, but if they do… the ones who will pay were the border forces like them!

"Split up, and rendezvous at 1400 hours in patrol line 01, block beta." Schwarzkopf ordered them.

"Roger, Sir!" And the flights split up to three directions.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Cruscos Army Airport, Personnel's room**

She had submitted her second paper appealing for improvement in labor conditions, though in simpler terms she asked them to be more concerned about her chances of survival in the Elenium lab. This was abusing their employee, and she thought her value as an awardee of the Silver Wing Assault Medal meant something. Apparently the pretty trinket wasn't worth as much as she thought.

Seriously, she didn't want to join her predecessor in death because of Schugel's dangerous experiment. If she believed in ghosts, she would think the accursed lab was full of vengeful ghosts.

Her first appeal was ignored as expected, but she would endure until the third and she'd like to see if the R&D upper brass still didn't get a clue that her patience had its limit.

Speaking of patience, why didn't Alberich send her a reply yet? Must be stuck somewhere during delivery due to this place's tight security. She had been checking the newspaper herself, but as expected there's no Republican newspaper and checking imported goods from the Republic in Berun was proven futile. In comparison to Rhine, most retail stores in the capital purchase imported goods in bulk many times than what was purchased in the border. So even if the supply was cut off recently, Berun's market won't feel a thing for now.

 _'It's no wonder what's obvious in the border is obscured in the capital.'_ With the main force busy in the North, Strategic HQ won't pay attention to a shortage of Republican cosmetics in Rhine.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

"Wait a moment!" Tanya quickly rose from her bed and put on her uniform. It took a while because of the pajamas she wore, and she wished she had slept in a singlet and shorts instead. It was getting humid in the mid of August in Berun that couldn't be felt back in Norden. Alberich was adamant about her wearing proper sleeping attire.

"Your body is that of a little girl! Be more conscious, Tanya! So always lock your room, dress properly and brush your hair!"

That woman would throw a tantrum if she didn't care properly for this little girl's body. Tanya sighed as she tidied her uniform and opened the door, it was a cadet running an errand as part of his training. It seemed the letter she was waiting for has arrived. "Yes, what is it cadet?"

"Letter for you, Ma'am!"

She wished she was called Sir, but there was nothing she could do about it. "Thank you." Her lips curved up into a smile, unconsciously, when she read Alberich's name on the envelop. She wasn't allowed to speak about Elenium Type-95, but she could ask Alberich how to deal with a unreasonable weapon designer who only cares about the theoretical limit. They spoke the same language as designers, right?

Unaware of the cadet's thoughts when seeing her seemingly innocent smile. _'Even the Argent is a girl… how adorable.'_

"Good work." And with that Tanya dismissed the cadet. Rushing back to her room, locking it and quickly going to her desk for a letter opener. She was skimming through the letter, her fair face scrunched up. "Damn it… I hate it when we're right at a time like this." She grumbled to herself as she reread the letter from Alberich.

As they feared, imported goods from the Republic had dwindled in Rhine and their newspaper was already missing from publication in the Empire for almost a month. Tanya hastily opened her drawer, a small map of the continent was rolled up on top of her table. "From Norden to Rhine…" Considering the distance and size of the main forces. "Ck… a month would be an incredibly generous estimation already." Upper brass with good connections with the intel-dept should notice something was off by now, but re-deploying the main army wasn't a decision they could make quickly.

 _'The Army shouldn't bother with office politics when national defense is at stake but-'_ The Norden Theater would be furious if Central suddenly abandoned them to deal with Legadonia on their own. _'Then again, it will happen sooner or later.'_

Back when they learned about plan 315 in OCS, their instructor praised the brilliant minds of Strategic HQ. In a sense it was a correct plan to not divide their forces too much, abiding to most basic war strategies. However, for modern workers like her and Alberich, it wasn't the case. For them, who were used to delay in heavy traffic of Japan, they couldn't help but feel pessimistic about this seemingly flawless plan.

It was awfully optimistic of Strategic HQ to think such a large force was as mobile as they hoped. It was never tested if the Main Force could move fast enough. On top of mustering such a concentrated force, supply and logistics needed would add on the railway-dept's burden. This plan meant racing against time for the main force, with an idealistic estimation their border force would hold on until the main army arrived. This would be feasible for the North, South and South-East borders with three minor countries, but the West and East where two old Great Powers lie was an entirely different matter.

 _'For people in the border waiting for reinforcements, the demand to delay the enemy in an undetermined amount of time was a herculean task.'_ She could attest to that herself. _'Alberich managing to warn his commander and arrange an intensified patrol schedule in a theater scale is already commendable…'_

"Wait." Tanya cupped her chin in deep thought, _'If the Western Theater gets overwhelmed, won't Strategic HQ grab every able personnel to help Rhine's forces? That could be my ticket out of Schugel's grasp!'_

It said something if Tanya would rather escape to the frontlines than working under Schugel.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Rhine Border, Patrol line 04**

"There's more sunlight than usual." Alberich idly commented. "The visibility is excellent today too." The birds were chirping happily this morning too, in this low altitude he could hear them faintly from the distance.

Ludwig fanned himself with his free hand, "It rained a bit last night so it feels humid now."

"Ludwig." Barked their flight commander, "The Empire expect us to fight under a hail of shells and bullets, a bit of humidity won't kill you."

The blond grunted unhappily, "Yes, Sir…"

"Be vigilant, we're in the farthest patrol line now…" Krause warned them, his grip on the sling of his rifle tightened. _'This tension isn't just a superficial feeling, if something happens to the landforce below we would be their only air support and expecting reinforcements would be too much to hope.'_

Suddenly their youngest mage, who was flying on his left side, stopped. "Sir!"

"What is it?"

"The birds… got quiet all of a sudden."

"The birds? Why should we care if- " Ludwig scowled.

"The closest forest from here is further west, that might be because…" He trailed off, gulping as it dawned on his mind what was happening here.

Wolfgang, his other subordinate, finished his line. "A lot of humans are passing by their territory."

Ludwig looked nervous, "Guys, it's just birds."

Krause's grin was strained, "What? You haven't heard, Ludwig? Animals are the best alarms in the world…" Which was why their army invested a lot on their four legged companions who would never know the word treason.

Alberich turned to face him, "Flight commander, we should link up with the Squadron Commander as soon as we can."

That was a sound judgement, a flight was good for patrolling but for fighting unknown forces, they were sorely lacking. "Yes, before-"

At that very moment, the radio set Wolfgang was carrying on his back let out static noises. The blond mage picked up the call, his expression grim. It was a while until his expression darkened, and his eyes wide with trepidation. "It's from CP, they said a telegram from the land force further from us just arrived. The Republican force has crossed our border!"

Alberich had seen this coming but when it really happened he was still shaken, his heart was hammering against his ribcage. Only Second Lieutenant Krause kept his calm, "What are our orders?"

"Border guards will retreat and link up with incoming reinforcements from HQ, our job is giving them air support." Wolfgang's voice sounded forced, all of them know what this order implied.

Krause's expression was grim, "Contact our commander."

"Yes, Sir!" Alberich was the one who turned on his radio, as Schwarzkopf wasn't as far as CP there's no need for the heavy radio set Wolfgang carried. "This is Hawkeye 08, commander! Requesting for your position for emergency rendezvous, over!"

Schwarzkopf voice came soon after, "This is 01. We're already tied up! Both first and third squadron! Enemy is establishing air control! Over!"

Alberich quickly reported, "Our first and third squadron already made contact with the enemy, Sir! Should we go to them, now?"

In the same time Wolfgang reported, "No, 206th Squadron that's closest to us just made contact with Republican mages! They have suffered multiple casualties, and we're ordered to support them! There's a named enemy mixed in the enemy forces!"

A flight as reinforcements for a tattered squadron, and with a named mage as an enemy?! Was CP joking with them? Alberich thought furiously, _'In emergencies, whether it's in Norden or Rhine… CP gives unreasonable orders!'_

"Let's go." Krause was obviously reluctant, but orders from above were absolute. "Our order is helping 206 to delay our enemies! Show your worth as Imperial Mages!"

"Yes, Sir!"

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

There was no other choice but following their commander, this was the life of a soldier. So they picked up their speed, and flew over the skies of Rhine. Alberich was thinking furiously of how to survive this along with his flight-mates. Perhaps it was too much to hope as Tanya hardly could keep her own life in Norden, and this was the Republic that was on the same league as their Empire. He didn't care much about the 206th Squadron, he would help them out of duty but he would prioritize his own flight. It was a human's selfish nature, and Alberich was no hypocrite to not acknowledge this side of his.

The battlefield they were heading to was most likely where Republican forces are concentrating, and if they were establishing air control most likely they also have mobile artillery units with them. Never mind the infantries with nonexistent chances to touch them, the problem would be fighting mages under a hail of shells. They also had to help 206th Squadron to disengage and then harass the Republicans effort to establish air control. If they could also gain intel on the named mages, it would be wonderful.

 _'They said we are just delaying them, but to accomplish that goal there's a lot of objectives, what a long list of work to do…'_ He also could hardly survive this ordeal. However, if CP expected him to make a last stand, Alberich would refuse. Seriously, a job could be risky but an order to die should be ignored. "Commander, we can't just butt in with our small force in their battle… we have to ambush them somehow before getting 206th Squadron out of the battle and regroup."

Krause smiled, _'He analyzed the situation quickly…'_ The commander nodded, "Indeed, a surprise attack would work, but in a sky where there's no cover but clouds…" For the clouds to be plenty in low altitude today was a blessing on itself.

Alberich calculated his chances of survival in this plan he ran through his mind, it had a decent survival rate. Tanya's plan back in Norden worked because their force was the one dominating the combat and there was only that squadron chasing her. This plan he came up with could work, but that only works until they helped 206th Squadron. They also had to take into account on how fast 206th Squadron could retreat to regroup with them and how many survived the initial contact.

 _'Enough pondering, Tanya will kill me for being a scaredy cat.'_ He took a deep breath. "Sir, I have a plan… the clouds would suffice as cover for this surprise attack."

Other proud superiors would balk at listening to their subordinates, Krause however had long learned pride means shit as long as you get your job done and alive. "Give us your short briefing Beilschmidt."

The boy took a deep breath. "Basically I will go ahead as a distraction, the Commander and the rest will get 206th Squadron out when the time is right. I will leave it to the Commander to decide it." He had to trust Krause on this.

"That's reckless!" Ludwig protested, "Don't go selfless hero on me Beilschmidt."

Alberich glanced at him before stating, "You of all people know I am the most suitable as a distraction with my set of skills." That shut Ludwig up. "I have no plan to die anytime soon, and you're all in more danger if our enemy didn't buy my ruse…"

Looking at the defeated look on Ludwig, Krause got more confident in Alberich's plan. "Very well… we will rely on you then, Beilschmidt."

"Thank you, Sir." He took his rifle off of his shoulder and passed it to Ludwig, "You're ambidextrous too, aren't you? Take my rifle then, it's just a decoration to me." It would weigh him down and hurt his shoulder when used.

Ludwig accepted the second rifle, "Are you sure? How could you aim then?"

He rolled his eyes, "I don't need precise aim for this, but I have my ways when I have to." He barely scratched for Schützenschnur in Bronze qualification back in OCS with smaller rifles back then, it was unfortunate that weapons his size were not up to standard for real battle. "So here is the plan." Alberich relayed his plan, emphasizing how his flight mates had to prioritize 206th's disengagement and he could handle the rest.

His commander looked doubtful, "It could work, but would they let us pass like that?"

Alberich smiled at him, "Commander… even though humans have a wide field of vision and 80% of sensory stimulation is dominated by visual, we can't process them all at once. Even if we see it doesn't mean we're really seeing it."

Yes, this was one topic he was very engrossed on during his college days and helping him immensely when developing magic. Spatial sensory, how humans perceive their surroundings. Mage interfere with the world, thus manipulating space with their mana. This was especially evident with how large concentrations of mana would distort space.

"I like your confidence Beilschmidt!" Krause saluted, "Well then, soldiers! Time to move!"

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

Major Jules Foch and his squadron were the vanguard of the Republican army from mage corps. Their job was to test the waters, or the skies of Rhine. After all, the Empire prided their Imperial Flight Mages, a group of elites that excelled in quality and quantity. It wasn't much of a stretch to say in a war against the Empire at full force, the monarchy will dominate air and land with their superior forces.

Even for their vast resources, the Republic would never dare to challenge the younger Great Power on their own and content to be part of the safety net keeping the Empire in check.

However, that changed when the Empire sent their main force to subjugate Legadonia, and the Republic had no choice but to declare war for the sake of their national security. It was hectic back in their homeland, as to muster the full might of their country to seize this chance they had to 'borrow' trains and other resources from private companies. For merchants that care for nothing but profit, national security was trivial matter. If this expedition didn't bear fruit, their current government could collapse.

He couldn't fail, how well his squadron would fare in their first mission in Rhine would set the rhythm of this war. As the ace of the Republican Mages, he was looking forward to fight the Imperial Mages. He wasn't disappointed when his squadron faced them, the Empire nurtured their mages well. It was unfortunate this squadron met his comrades first, they were winning in spite of casualties but the tables were turned once Foch's squadron entered the battlefield.

"Prepare penetration spell! Fire!" Due to their inferior magic technology, Republican Mages had to compensate with numbers and their volley fire doctrine. The Imperial Mages quickly scramble and threw optical decoys. "Ck…" Since their ambush, Foch's squadron hadn't scored any direct hits, but most enemy mages had a close call and could barely maintain their flight spell.

If this wasn't a real war, he would praise these skillfull mages of the Empire, but this wasn't a spar so he could only curse them. "Don't let them go and regroup!" They were half a squadron left, and he had to annihilate them all.

They were about to throw another volley of bullets, but then his squadron was the one on the receiving end of a sudden hail of spell fire. It was a volley of bombardment spells, and so many of them! "Fall back! Deploy Active Barrier!" Foch himself barely made it, one of the spell's trajectory was aimed at him and grazed his temple.

Was it a Named Mage of the Empire? The spell just now wasn't deployed with bullets, it was pure mana energy. It was said that the pinnacle of refinement of magic was the ability to shoot spells without the aid of a rifle as a scepter replacement. He had heard the Empire had these powerful mages in their arsenal, but Foch didn't expect to see one of them here patrolling Rhine.

Speaking of patrol, it was strange that their vanguards made contact with the enemy so quickly and in succession. Could it be, their invasion was leaked to the Empire? Then, it was no wonder they deployed an ace here. "Third flight, suppress the remaining enemy!" No need to waste their manpower on a group of beaten up mages. "First and Second flight with me, chase the bastard that shoot us just now!"

"Yes, Sir!"

Now he gave his men a glance over, some of them were injured from the volley of fire but they could still fight. It wasn't a good idea to spare the remains of the squadron they fought before, but when an ace was concerned they should either gather an intel report on this bastard or shoot him down now. His group was about to give chase to where the spell was coming from, it seemed this enemy was flying at 6000ft and hid himself in a cloud. That was at the limit of the safe zone for mages to fly, a risky move as at any moment this guy could be chased out to a higher and more dangerous zone. That wasn't a bad strategy to take a risk, an ace was usually good at hit and run tactics.

That was when he saw four figures move quickly among the grey cloud dotting Rhine's sky, "It's a flight?" He was disappointed it wasn't an ace, but fresh reinforcements would be trouble all the same. "Take them down!" But the objective didn't change, they just had to destroy their enemies and make this sky theirs.

"Ugh!" Another volley came from behind the cloud, and if Foch didn't know better he'd think this flight learned their volley fire doctrine. Some of the shots had been a close call even for an ace like him.

"Commander! They're moving quickly, we can't get a good reading on their movement!" His wingman, Soult reported anxiously as they dodged the spells frantically.

True, this flight was playing hide and seek skillfully among the clouds. He wanted to chase them to that mass of water vapour, but the visibility would be terrible and if he wasn't careful he would hit friendlies instead. How could this flight even aim at them? No, the enemies did not. They were just shooting randomly at his squadron's general direction and sow chaos in his group. It was a simple tactic but effective, however… this enemy group would be wasting a hefty amount of mana. These bastards even had some homing guidance spell mixed in!

Still, even though getting close to them was too risky under this hail of spells, they had to break this stalemate. "Damn it! First flight with me, Second flight lay out covering fire so we could get close to them." It was no problem fighting them in equal numbers, the enemies should have exhausted a good portion of their mana. "Once we get in range, the fight is as good as ours."

"Yes, Si-" Soult suddenly got enveloped in a explosion, and both the shell and flight spells he had maintained failed.

"Soult!" His wingman fell but got caught by a comrade, he survived but is in no condition to fight. Just now, someone shot them from where? Was that a homing spell? No… it came from below? How did their enemies get them from below? Third Squadron should- "Give me your sitrep now!"

But only the radio's static noise answered him, and that only means one thing. They have been had. But how? He had been so sure there was only a flight coming as reinforcements according to Combat Area Control, he had been anticipating them! Sure his squadron was distracted by a presumable appearance of an ace, but they had their eyes on these reinforcements.

So where was the force that eliminated his third flight coming from?

"Hit! I got one of the-" One of his subordinates reported before he became stunned. "Commander!" He didn't see it wrong, just now… "They're just decoys!"

Decoys moving as swiftly as swallows in a textbook formation, expertly eluding them and hailing them with spells were just… decoys? They were deceived by refraction of lights? No, the spells hunting them down was real even if the enemies they saw were just decoys. _'I knew something is fishy here, especially since... I didn't see them shooting at us at all! Or rather I haven't seen these decoys taking aim, just the spells flying at us! But, from where?'_

Another set of decoys or a flight they had presumed to be one flew over them again, and when he tried to find the mana source they couldn't. Whoever it was had lowered their mana signature so low, a quick scan couldn't find the bastard. This enemy also didn't let them have time to breathe, so they couldn't cast a stronger scanning spell.

"Uwaagh!" He shouted at his comrade, the idiot Shawn almost killed him. "Shawn, what the hell did you do?!"

"The decoys increased! And now there are two flights of them!" And the new one was flying in the same altitude as them, this one was obviously aiming for infighting.

"Incoming spells! Random evasion, quick!" He barked to his men.

They couldn't believe their eyes anymore, as they couldn't tell illusion and reality apart. In this vast sky, this enemy had made a home for himself and they were unwelcomed guests. At this rate they would be just waiting for their doom.

It is as if this unseen enemy was… death itself and the skies of Rhine was the underworld under its rule.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **AN: Before all of you start protesting that Alberich had a better performance than Tanya's in Norden, you will see in the next chapter that he actually didn't.**

 **Schützenschnur in Bronze* I am not sure how good Bronze is, but our Alberich is obviously a decent shooter at least but he is terrible at shooting under pressure. As we can tell, practice and doing it on the field are different.**

 **Beta-ed by , who is kind enough to comb from first chapter to the last.  
**


	11. 10th Record

**The good news, now I have two betas. Braze Rancor fic grammar and spelling while Ocean Sailor, the military expert helps me to get the details in military and war correct. Well, there's no intention to get all of them historically correct as this is still fiction in the end but I would be damned if I get called out getting some details terribly wrong.**

 **UPDATE 22/09/17 : Fixed some detail... because of Hague Convention/Treaty of worms~ Whichever is true in Youjo Senki universe I have to edit the part where Alberich team fought Republican artillery. I also rewrite next chapter quite a bit accordingly. Truly having Ocean Sailor pointing these out helps to keep my fic consistent... We didn't mean it to me tamer tactic, it's just how the rule of war works. Apparently it's not really 'all fair' in war and love ha ha ha**

* * *

 **10th Record  
The Reaper in The Sky of Underworld**

* * *

Alberich shivered as he entered the cloud right above fighting friendlies and enemies, truly a fluffy cloud and heavenly white seas was just a childhood's fairy tale. Cloud was cold and dusty, so Alberich kept his shell up but thinning it just enough to block mass of evaporated water from getting inside. This cloud contained water from industrial city, there was no telling of how dangerous the pollutant inside if it get to his lungs.

Of course, he couldn't write an appeal for improvement of labor condition because it wasn't like factories in Rhine would stop operating for the sake of the aerial mage's health. ' _Seriously, it would be wonderful if humanity realize what pollution and industrial waste do to our earth.'_

Humanity start to be conscious of their environment too late in his opinion. While it was nice and all to see vertical garden and those green office design, the trend killed creativity since some design looked nice because of the green but take it out then it would look crappy. Some clients were also unreasonable about their wish to have a green building, but misinformed about the cost and regulation. Why didn't they just live without air-con then? Truly, he had the misfortune of working under unreasonable demand.

Especially now, as he worked in polluted environment, mage was sturdier than normal human but it doesn't mean anyone would want to bet on it. Tanya wouldn't consent testing her shell against machine gun of unknown caliber, Alberich was even more unwilling pitting mage's immune system and shell against pollution if he could help it. Bullet to vital organ will be a quick death but cancer and other illness due to chemical exposure would be a slow and painful death.

In spite of this terrible treatment, Alberich still had to do his job to save his comrades. Why did he volunteer to be an Imperial Mage again? Oh, right… Tanya and her _terribly_ make sense persuasion. In the future he should remind himself that even if what Tanya said was sensible, it was also terrible.

The red haired mage inhaled deeply, "Time to work."

Deploying radar and scanning spell caused a holographic screen to appear before his very eyes. A tendril of dread slipped in momentarily to his resolve but he ignored it, he had no other choice. He inhaled deeply before exhaling, there was no room for doubt as he had to keep his mana signature low or he would fell victim to rangefinding spell. So his mana could only spike for a short moment before attacking for this plan to work.

His body heated up as mana's surges multiplied through its circuit, and he let the spell fly from his fingertips. It got enemy's attention as planned, but no casualties unfortunately. Alberich had hoped he got one or two enemies with his surprise attack, no choice but continued pelting them to draw them up here. They did come closer and the commander brought two flights with him, good, now his comrades could get 206th out of enemy's range. A flight the commander left could be easily dealt with since they had went through intense battle and not as fit.

Now, to keep their attention on the sky above them. "Deploying Optical Decoys, low poly render- speed 250."

The more realistic a decoy, the more it would burden their computation jewel and ate up mana. Most mage deploy them accordingly to their skill but they didn't understand how to manipulate mana cost and quality of illusion fully. Then again unlike in fantasy fiction of his old world, mages in this world couldn't manipulate mana as freely. Alberich had more leeway because of his experience with 3D modelling program in past life. The less fine a construct was, the less burdened his computation orb and mana cost was also shaved off.

However- animating these decoys beyond most mages is something only he could do. He tried to teach Tanya, but beyond simple action Tanya just couldn't wrap her head around this animation spell. It also ate up mana accordingly to level of complication of order and also immense amount of attention, so it was deemed unsuitable for straightforward fight. However it was a great tool when the mage was fighting guerilla.

Now he had to manipulate the decoy to fly in higher altitude than his real position like a flight of swift aerial mage. As long as the Republican Mage didn't get a good look on them, the enemies won't realize the flying decoys looks like polygon human. Then he sent another wave of spells, taking care to send them in parabolic trajectory so it looks like the attack came from decoys that played hide and seek with them.

The downside of this move was of course, he couldn't aim at his enemies at all just the general area where these guys were flying. It would be a lucky shot if one of them hit, and so far he had hit three mages of Republic. He was only grazing them though, but one appeared to be on his limit in maintaining his flight spell. Another volley of fire and that one was down, this was like playing slot machine and hoping for a jackpot.

For someone with mission that could be considered heroic, protecting comrades and acting as their lightning rod, he wasn't very heroic with how he did it. After all he barely move from his spot, hiding inside the cloud as spying on his enemies he pelted from safe distance and hope for the best. He certainly wasn't asking to be a hero in this, and he wasn't going to play hero like Tanya did.

It was impossible for him to dance in the air like Tanya, he wasn't that agile and he dislike doing acrobatic in the sky. Though hail of bullets surely would force him to, but he'd rather avoid it.

Another mage of Republic fell victim to his spell, the blood bloomed in the sky as his spell trajectory hit the head. Alberich barely pay attention to this scene of gore, all he was concerned with was two down and six more to go. If his life wasn't on the line he would wonder why he didn't feel a thing after taking a human life. It was precisely because his mind was fully occupied with his mission and casting, enemies cease to be human in his eyes at that very moment. In fast paced reality, even human's conscience couldn't catch up.

' _Not yet, commander?'_ It worked well so far, as enemies' eyes were fully drawn to fast moving illusion and flashy show of spell. Truly the saying that eyes were the most superficial senses was true, and human had to use all their senses to truly perceive their world. If these Republican mage wasn't so gung ho chasing the decoy they would notice the lack of noise Alberich's decoy make when flying or occasional glitch when they moved.

Well it wasn't like if they had a closer look on his decoy won't reveal they look like modern statue of cubism like Picasso's painting. Also, opening and closing his circuit in close interval like this was getting uncomfortable, like jumping back and forth to hot spring in winter. Not to mention his computation orb was getting heated, the decoy wasn't a burden but the continuous bombardment spell was severely tasking his orb.

"Ah." They hit his decoys.

Oops, they would also know if his decoy got hit and it happened because Alberich's mistake in animating them. ' _Aw-wa-wa…'_ Let's just throw more decoys at them and hoped for the best, another flight ought to throw them to confusion. Tanya did say when you were fewer in number, getting close would give your enemy trouble of infighting. She used it on Legadonian mages, and it should work on Republican mage too. It does, but his operation orb was protesting with all heavy and high speed spell he forced on it.

 _Crackle! Bzzz_

' _Uuugh… and this one lasted to my graduation too! If logistic-dept see another request for replacement, and it's because I melted my orb again I will get in trouble!'_ Alberich lamented.

That was when a mage flying next to presumably squadron commander was shot down by penetration spell, and Alberich saw his cue. His flight mates had eliminate the enemy flight that tied down the survivors of 206th and it was his turn to make his escape. He hesitated for a moment, it sounded easy when he came up with this idea but doing it was still scary.

However his life was worth not giving in to this small fear, just think of it as Drop Tower amusement ride… without the safety. He clenched his teeth so he didn't bit his tongue by accident and did something no sane aerial mage would consider to do. He cancelled his flight spell and dropped from 5500ft height. When one wanted to get the hell out of firing range without mana and unnoticed, gravity was your best friend.

"Beilschmidt!"

He re-casted his flight spell, his circuit warmed up as his mana propelled him up and away from gravity's pull. "Huwaa-aargh…" That was an embarrassing groan, his stomach was flip-flopping from the fall but he couldn't bring himself to care as Commander Krause's hand tapped his shoulder.

"Good job! Beilschmidt!" Krause complimented him.

Ludwig cursed but his smile was so wide, it was almost blinding. "Damn! You really pull the impossible! I can't believe they really ignore us who fly right under their nose in favor of your decoys just because we fly slower!"

That was because human eyes would automatically focus into faster moving objects in their field of vision, so Ludwig and co who flew much slower than his decoy was subconsciously ignored by their enemies. That was a similar trait human shared with cats.

"Our job isn't over yet, but I have to say… you at least deserve a Flying Assault Medal for this." Krause said as he lead their flight and remaining survivor of 206 to pull back.

A medal was a good appreciation for his effort but he'd rather not be decorated so soon, the pay raise was welcome though. But neither worth anything if they die here. "Thank you Commander, but I want us to survive this mess first." They had Republican mages chasing them, and it seems the one they fought was a scout sent by a Wing. "I am sorry Commander, I had a shot on their commander but I fail to eliminate him." That was the named, he wasn't just a squadron leader but a wing commander!

"Well, Beilschmidt can't do all the job for us." Krause joked, "So… Jones." He called the survivor of 206th Squadron, "Casualty report."

Sergeant Jones looked grim, "We lost half of our squadron… Commander Hess is injured and unable to continue, Conrad's and my injuries are light but we are low in mana… too. We will barely make it back to base." In short there was only a flight left to add to their second light of 205th, however if these three stayed they would only be a burden.

Krause made a snap decision, "Go back to the base and recover your strength, get a reinforcement to hurry up while you're at it!" Just now Wolfgang received an order to harass Republican artillery and destroy them if possible, that couldn't be accomplished by a half-squadron.

Hess who was holding onto Jones wheezed, "I'm so sorry… Krause, make sure you make it back."

"Yes, Sir."

Alberich watched the survivor of 206th with mixed feeling, ' _This is war, a real one…'_ He felt his heartbeat quickened and his breath came out short.

Hess caught his eyes and smiled, "Sorry kid, even with the warning we're still unreliable adults huh… no, thanks for saving us, Warrant Officer Beilschmidt."

"It's my duty, Sir." He returned frankly, composing himself. "Uhm… if possible may I borrow…" Damn, how awkward asking for borrowing things in midst of battle? But he need them!

Hess saw his empty hands and used his free hand to toss MG-30, and in instant Alberich's hands were pulled down by its weight. "A bit heavy for you?" This was heavier than Mondragon by three times!

Alberich gritted his teeth, struggling to hoist 12 kilos machine gun over his tiny shoulders. He could lift it with no problem if he enhance his muscle with mana but- "I need computation orb! Mine is about to melt." Wolfgang at last took pity on him and grabbed the heavy machine gun, so Alberich could show them his dying orb.

Ludwig of course couldn't help himself but say, "You broke your orb again?!"

"Five spells ran in parallel, I tried my best to keep it going." He felt like crying, and was about to say more when he had not one but three computation orbs thrown to his hand.

"Huh?" Suddenly he had his hands full of orbs, he recognize two as the same Forkerr model but the last one was previous model.

"I keep our old orb, we don't need latest model to escape!" Hess explained, he was the one tossing both his new and old model.

Krause grinned, "Thank you for lending him, now go!"

"God speed, comrades!"

Alberich watched Hess and his subordinates made their escape and then stared at the three orbs in his hands. ' _What did they expect me to do with three? They… didn't expect me to repeat the last stunt three times in a row, right?'_

"Commander! The enemies is about to catch up, we have to cover for our comrades!" Ludwig reported, pulling Alberich back to reality.

Alberich groaned at that, they had to let their injured comrades to flee and double back to harass the artillery but those enemy mages didn't let them. "Those persistent Republicans!"He put on the new orb and was about to stow away his melting one when he had an idea. "Wolfgang, you have confidence in your arm throw, right?"

"Uhm, Yeah?" They did had that exercise. "Why did you ask?"

"We're pelted by bullets and you ask Wolfgang such thing?" Ludwig howled as he turned back to shoot.

Alberich passed his almost-broken orb to Wolfgang, "Throw it to them!"

Wolfgang didn't understand but the surety in Alberich's voice convinced him, so he enforced his muscle with mana and threw the orb at pursuing Republican. Not to mention… this breaking down orb was like a bomb!

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

They had always envied Empire's technology in magical science, but it was guarded jealously like Dragon protecting their gold. Even whatever they could get was quickly became obsolete because Empire always renew their technology, leaving them in dust.

So when a mage from Empire threw something at them, Foch was expecting a grenade not the so called advanced operational orb of Empire. By right they should retrieve it for their R&D department, but in the other hand- why the heck the crystallization of technology they sought after was handed in silver plater so suddenly? Was this a sign of surrender,or-

His thought came to a halt when a familiar streak of light shot up from one of Empire Mages, the mage stood out because his much smaller stature but scan spell show this mage was the one with largest signature in the group. 'It's the ace, what is he- CRAP!' He howled, "Back away! Back!" It was too late, a flight of his second squadron was caught in explosion and they fell as their wings were cut off.

Then before the survivor of second squadron could recover, they were rained with bullets and spells by the ace and his flight. They couldn't survive as the smoke served as cover, so they couldn't see the attack coming. "Damn! Casualty report!"

No answer from his radio, they were annihilated. How could a flight destroy a squadron? No, the explosion just now was packet with mana so their shell was broken even though two third of squadron survived the initial blast. Their enemy was a mage who knew spell inside out to exploit such weakness in heat of battle.

"CP! This is Gamma 01, we have encountered an unknown named! I repeat! We have encountered an unknown named!"

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

"As you said, their shell become brittle after that explosion." Krause was impressed, no wonder their commander said Alberich was a genius when it comes to magic spell.

Alberich exhaled softly, "Phew… one squadron down but there's one and half to go."

Ludwig groaned, "Are we seriously have to go down and harass the artillery?" Artillery wasn't a true threat to Aerial Mage simply because they were too small and agile to be a realistic target, unless they were attacking a fortification of course.

Krause nodded grimly as he lead his flight plus one pair from 206th, "If we don't, Republic will gain air superiority here and we won't be able to delay their advance!"

Alberich gritted his teeth, at this point there was no way to delay Republic. The situation in this border would deteriorate before their main force could be re-deployed from Norden. "But Sir-"

"Take Ludwig and Wolfgang!" Krause ordered him, "You will lead three man-cell and harass artillery below, while I and my team will delay the enemy mages."

Alberich protested, "But Sir, I'm better suited in delaying-" Krause was taking the more dangerous job, at least his commander should take him too!

"No." Krause firmly rejected, "You have the firepower to do more than just harassing their mobile artillery unit and infantry, this is an order Beilschmidt!"

Order from their superior should be obeyed, "Yes, Sir." He gritted out, "Ludwig, Wolfgang, follow me!" At any other moment he would shy away from leading but in battlefield they didn't have time to argue. So the three young mages descended to rain terror to their enemies. Alberich once again found himself wrecking his head on how to harass their enemies on the ground in shortest time possible.

Tanya once said, mage was like attack heli so they're built to harass and hunt down enemy soldiers. With excellent mobility that surpass aircraft and firepower of artillery, his current mission was what Mage is for. However- three mages could hardly suppress so many enemy forces and he wasn't optimistic to think the other team could suppress enemy mages for long or there won't be any that slipped by.

At worst case, his team would be sandwiched from below and above. "Ck."

"Beilschmidt! Don't tell me you lose your nerve now!" Ludwig didn't like the dark look he spotted on his younger comrade.

Wolfgang hissed, "Ludwig! Not now!"

Alberich bit his lower lip, "Be quiet, Ludwig. I'm not backing down here." Number was a problem but in modern world he had seen a small group of people demoralize a country, like terrorist. Yes, terror was a very good tool and that was his only option to accomplish mission objective quickly, but how to terrorize these hardy soldiers of Republican?

Kidnap their commanding officer and hold him hostage? Plain old rain of shells from heaven? Or- his verdant green eyes were drawn towards long muzzle of artillery below. Nowadays they still use pure nitroglycerin, didn't they? Tanya knew a lot about artillery, supposedly the God of Battlefield or something. However Tanya also mention this God could be surprisingly frail if you know where to hit.

"Ludwig, Wolfgang… deploy explosive spell. Your aim is their artillery, but I don't mind you aim for the operator either." Alberich made his first order, "You two have better aim than me, target the barrel or muzzle if possible. The spell didn't have to be high powered, just enough heat to break their weapon down." The right hit would turn these God to scrap metal, it would severely deplete their mana but the objective of their mission had to be met.

Ludwig readied his riffles, "Why their weapon is the main target?" Alberich couldn't be hesitating to kill now, could he.

Artillery was the God of war to all of them here, and the artillerymen fancy themselves the one who control these mighty God. So… there's nothing worse than reducing them to mere weaponless soldiers. After all… these Gods isn't moving anywhere. To Mages, it was stationary target with how slow the artillerymen moved them.

Alberich swept his hand and a large screen with coordinates and compass materialized, "Calculating distance, mana's velocity." His green eyes shone, "To answer your question Ludwig, it's to strike terror in them." Leisure aiming could only be done now when their commander was occupying the enemy mages above the clouds.

Ludwig and Wolfgang followed suit, their riffle glow with mana. "Open fire!"

BOOM! BOOM! WHOOSH! WHAM!

Alberich threw his spells, careful so the angle of his shot caused as much as dust mixed with smoke. Then for a good measure he casted another optical spell, emitting heart beam that swept over battlefield.

Ludwig and Wolfgang couldn't help but stared in worry, this was another mana heavy spell Alberich used. Normal mage would be already dead, and obviously Alberich's shortness of breathe meant he was also exhausted but then he said. "Cover me, I will go down there! Don't stop shooting for anything!"

"Beilschmidt!" Ludwig called out. "Oi! Don't be so reckless!" But their temporary leader wasn't listening, and disappeared with camouflage spell.

Wolfgang steeled his resolve, "You heard his order! Beilschmidt know what to do, just do what he said!" They were all caught off guard by the fast paced development in this start of war, and Alberich was the only one who was still keeping track of this madness. He and Ludwig weren't mindless soldier, but at this situation he felt obeying his young friend without question was what they should do as Imperial mage.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

Republican 301st Mage Wing

Foch was frustrated beyond words, while he expect to face strong resistance when invading Reich Empire this wasn't what he had in mind. The unknown named from Empire dispatch his subordinates to delay them, and the bastard was once again gone from their field of vision. The subordinates delaying them was also crazily good, throwing decoy after decoy at his men so their volley of fire was neutralized perfectly.

"They're just buying time! Charge at them!" These mages were good, but their concern should be the missing ace. If that bastard was left alive…

Static noise of radio blared on their ears, "Echo 01! This is CP, our artillery unit is under attack! Disengage and assist them!"

He scowled, as expected the bastard had gone to harass their artillery. "This is Echo 01, we will do our best! Give us time!" That was when Foch realized something was really wrong down there, because the sound of artillery gun was getting less and less.

"Connect me with artillery!" He shouted at his subordinate carrying their radio set. Foch had a very bad feeling, he shouldn't have let this named mage had his way with their artillery unit! "Give me your sitrep! What's going on down there?!" He skipped the usual procedure, impatient and anxious.

"We… don't know, we're bombarded by a pair of mages… they're targeting our gun but- the chiefs- they…"

Was that fear he heard from this subordinate's voice? No… this was terror. Then the sitrep went on, apparently the chief of each artillery team suddenly collapsed. There was no warning whatsoever, no yawning, dizziness or any other sign of exhaustion. Their body just shut down, and they left their subordinates shaken and directionless. As if a plague just pass over their units and touched them with a curse.

That was no curse! Foch bit his lower lip furiously until he drew blood. 'That's obviously neural interference spell!' Perhaps a variation of it. "The culprit is a mage!" He shouted over the radio, "Keep your calm and we will be on our way!" He was terrorizing their comrades instead of killing them?

However these mages of Empire weren't giving them way, then so be it! "Spatial Detonation spell!"

"But Sir, we will exhaust our mana if-"

True, at this rate they would be truly exhausted in both mind and body. Just half of a squadron under command of this malicious named achieved this much! This was truly a personification of death and terror Empire employed in this sky of Rhine, well played! "Ignore them, the real enemy is on the ground preying on our comrades! Withdraw! We have a grim reaper to slay!" Even if they had to lay down their lives, this threat had to be neutralized now for the sake of their country.

From that day, certain Imperial mage with hair as red as blood was feared as reaper who spread terror in Rhine.

* * *

 **BTW if anyone notice the new line break ^^ I translate title of this fic to Japanese and get that. There's a lot of way to call a boy in Japanese... and apparently at their age they're not shoujo and shounen yet but Youjo and Bouya but I like the character for shounen better so- Naah it's just a fancy line break.**

 **Also if anyone notice the last line, it's a hint for Alberich's title from his enemy.  
It's fun writing in two perspective, this is how it goes in LN anyway... we get Tanya's and her opponent's POV. **

**ps: I am posting this to escape reality... not that I'm retreating for long from front line of job hunting. It's a hard time for everyone to look for job, especially vacancy for foreigner is getting stricter here. Once again wish me luck and drop food of soul for my starving and depressed psyche.**


	12. 11th Record

**This chapter is a roller coaster of emotion and one of the hardest to write, and so is the next one.  
It's also edited BTW... planning to post it tomorrow but well- it's already tomorrow anyway in my country.**

* * *

 **11st RECORD  
The Bloody Reaper**

Once upon a time their instructor had told them to never let anything stop them from completing their mission. Alberich had always been an obedient person because he knew it would be easier to blend in and be accepted if he did. So he obeyed Krause's order to the letter, preventing the Republican artillery unit from conquering their sky.

He knew how feeble humans were when their mean of defense was removed, so he ordered Ludwig and Wolfgang to destroy the artillery. A leader was both a compass for direction and a pillar of support, so he disabled them and made a show of their misery to the soldiers of the Republic. The Neural Intervention spell was created for torture and interrogation and due to requiring direct contact it was deemed unsuitable for a battle fought with guns and bullets. However, it was a weapon with an impressive capacity for terror when utilized properly. Due to the strange rules of war you had to maim and kill your enemy humanely, so the variation he used was the one that affected the brain to induce deep sleep. They would wake up in few hours after the spell wore off.

He could kill them with his mage knife but that would be a messy affair that left a trail of blood. Since he was under the Camo Spell he couldn't expose himself that way. It was also his way of rationalising not killing every single member of the Artillery crews. He had killed people before, and sparing more wouldn't wash off the blood. Tanya would call him spoiled and foolish for sparing those he couldn't afford to spare and he would pay for it later. Besides, with Wolfgang and Ludwig bombarding them from above these artillerymen would be even more defenseless when panicking over the loss of their leader. They would die all the same in the end.

' _How many men have I killed today?'_ Alberich didn't know. He just ran and ran and caressed the back of the unsuspecting men that acted as Chiefs of each unit around the Gods of War. He didn't stay to see the result of his work, and his ears were deaf to the panicked shouts of the enemies who found their leaders in sudden comas. He didn't let his conscience catch up with him and moved as fast as he could. Alberich wasn't Tanya, whose morality was hers to control as she pleased.

All his head told him was he'd rather these men suffer and die than his comrades. It wasn't devotion to his country, or his kindness as human being, Alberich just didn't want to see the people he knew dying first in this hell called War.

" _This is Hawkeye 09."_ Wolfgang's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and Alberich quickly took off to listen to the radio away from his victims. " _Enemy mages are breaking away from our commander and coming down! They're bombarding our friendlies, we've lost contact with them. Over!"_

Alberich scowled, "This is 08, don't panic! I will rendezvous with you in 30 seconds!" Judging from how silent the cannons had become after he had swept over them, he had made enough chaos in their artillery unit. However just in case, as Tanya always said, there was nothing short of overkill to make sure your mission was completed. His order was destroying them, and it was these artillerymen's fault for not withdrawing when their Officers were down.

So Alberich held his palm forward and cast an Optical Spell, setting it on a destructive path towards every artillery piece he set his sight on. The cannons were a tough weapon made of hardened steel, but even though he didn't destroy them completely the ground beneath them was overturned so it would be a long while until these Gods of War could get back to their feet.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The green eyed mage groaned when he noticed the old model orb he was using had heated up to dangerous levels, so he tossed it towards the confused enemies below and took off to rendezvous with his comrades. What became of his enemies after the unstable orb exploded in their faces wasn't his concern. Two more orbs, one new and one old.

"Hh…" Alberich coughed as he increased his altitude. He had started to feel dizzy.

Even mana powerhouses like himself had limits and he must have hit below 50% of his capacity by now. This was mana sickness, when the body of a mage suffered from headaches and nausea due to the shock of mana deficiency. Other mages were used to hitting as low as 25%, and it became too dangerous for them to continue using their mana when they hit 15% of their capacity.

Alberich had never gone past the threshold that would start to affect his body before. No wonder his comrades were so jealous of Tanya and him if they had never suffered mana sickness. ' _Maybe I shouldn't have overdone that last Optical Spell.'_

Ignore and Endure! If he indulged his body's pain, he would be killed in this hostile airspace!

"Ludwig! Wolfgang!" He shouted to them as soon as they were in sight. "Let's regroup with Commander Krause!

"Right!" Ludwig and Wolfgang agreed. Harassing a unit on the ground was possible with a three man squad, but they were still rookies. Too green to face half of an enemy mage wing on their own.

Alberich was about to contact his commander when he felt the mana in the airspace intensify, as if suddenly got heavier. "Random evasion! Thicken your shell, now!" He barked urgently as he took off in a zig-zag maneuver, followed by his comrades.

The area they occupied a moment ago exploded, and while they escaped the worst of it, the impact could be felt through their shells. "That was close!" Ludwig heaved as he followed Wolfgang and Alberich.

Alberich glanced to the side, it seemed Commander Krause had done a good job stalling the enemy, but due to their already small numbers eliminating their enemy wasn't made a priority. None of the Republican mages had been killed since the blast from the overloaded orb had eliminated a squadron. "This is Hawkeye 08, We've made contact with enemy, requesting assistance, over!"

" _This is Quebec 05!"_ They had survived the enemy bombardment!

Unlike Tanya's grave emergency in Norden he wasn't alone, but the danger wasn't less. Their ground forces should have regrouped with reinforcements from HQ, but hoping for reinforcements to come in time was overly optimistic. "Uugh…" The rigor of intense maneuvering wasn't helping his body.

"Beilschmidt, could it be you're… mana sick?" Wolfgang was always attentive, but this wasn't the time for Alberich to be fussed over.

He snapped, "Shut it! If you don't want to die, fly and dodge!" Was it just him or were the remaining enemies trying too hard to shoot them down? They didn't spare a glance at Commander Krause's team at their heels. "Volley of fire incoming! Deploy optical decoys and climb higher!"

They dodged the Republican's famed volley of fire doctrine, but at the rate they were going it was only a matter of time before they would get hit. Alberich could feel he was getting tired, but Ludwig and Wolfgang even more so because their capacity was lower than his. Mana was one thing, but his stamina was only a tad higher than most children his age. If they keep playing this cat and mouse game in the sky his team would be the one running out of steam first.

' _The only advantage I have over my enemies is my firepower.'_ But his aim wasn't as good as Tanya's, and deploying a Guidance Spell when fleeing was like singing while blowing your nose. He should have trained his marksmanship more, but there was no medicine for regret. "2 o'clock! Hide in the cloud and lower your signature!"

Only once they had entered the mass of water vapour did Alberich try to regain his breath. "Haa… ah-haa…"

Wolfgang and Ludwig watched their friend, Alberich Beilschmidt looked nothing like the laidback and introverted young mage they knew. Those verdant eyes were bloodshot with panic and exertion, his face was sweating bullets, as if he had been to hell and back. Compared to them, he looked like a wounded wild beast instead of human.

"Beilschmidt… you-"

He let out a small rueful laugh, "I wish Tanya was here…" He whispered to himself, his green eyes were unfocused as if he had forgotten Ludwig and Wolfgang were there. "She would know what to do, and I don't…"

They had always know Beilschmidt had something like a partnership with Degurechaff, but at the same time there was also something in their bearing that set them apart, as if their purpose in life was vastly different. This was the first time Ludwig and Wolfgang saw how vulnerable their young friend could be and they also wished his counterpart was here with them.

"What would Tanya do here…" He mumbled to himself, his eyes shifted to their direction as if considering something.

Wolfgang and Ludwig felt a chill down their spine because Alberich's warm green eyes had gained the cold glint they was normally associated with certain girl with icy blue eyes. Those deep pools of green were looking at them like one would look at prey but it quickly vanished as the redheaded mage shook his head. "Heh… what am I thinking? I'm not her… I can't do what she would do…"

"Beilschmidt?" Ludwig called out in worry.

He raised his hands up and an active barrier was erected, blocking the hail of bullets that came from outside the cloud. Protecting Ludwig and Wolfgang, who quickly add their own barrier to Alberich's. "I'm sorry…" Alberich muttered with a regretful voice. "I should have…"

Ludwig snapped, "Shut it, Beilschmidt! We're in this together and we can't lump all the responsibility on you!"

"Right! We should think of a way to get out of this." Wolfgang agreed.

Static noise interrupted them, it was Krause. " _This is Hawkeye 07, give me your sitrep! We see enemy mages shooting at a cloud, are you inside?"_ His voice sounded strained, their commander must be injured.

"Yes, Sir!" Answered Ludwig, "They're persistently chasing us even though we disengaged from their artillery units!" By all accounts the mages should have gone down and helped the soldiers Alberich disabled with the Neural Interference spell, but they prioritized chasing them instead.

" _Could it be they mistook-"_

"They mistook me as our commander because of my large mana signature." Alberich finished, his mind suddenly became very clear. "I really overdid it this time…" It was the most basic tactic to target the commander, and Alberich had proven himself the most ' _troublesome'_ enemy of the lot. "This is Hawkeye 08, are you injured?" Silence answered his query before the pair from 206th answered in spite of Krause's protest.

All of them were injured and barely maintained their flight spell, Krause was especially so, the wound on his dominant arm kept bleeding and he was barely stay conscious.

Krause's voice rang again, " _I will get you all out of there at all costs..."_ That didn't assure him at all. What could a three man team do against half a battalion when the objective was saving trapped comrades in their state?

"No." Wolfgang suddenly interjected, "Commander, sacrifice Ludwig and I if you must." Ludwig was also nodding with grim determination. "At least… Beilschmidt alone, he has to survive this battle."

He must had heard them wrong, did they just offer themselves as a sacrifice to save him. "You must be joking! Didn't you hear, they're just after me?! The correct tactic is me playing the bait and you regrouping with Commander Krause and the incoming reinforcements!" He didn't like the idea of sacrificing himself, but rationally they should choose a tactic that will save more lives! If he was alone he could improvise something to save himself with!

"No." Wolfgang's voice was firm, "Listen… aside from you, no one saw _this hell_ coming… not me, not Ludwig or even our commander."

He meant this war?

"You're important to our country." Ludwig added, "Maybe it's not hammered to that pretty little head of yours yet but Commander Schwarkopft had briefed everyone. In a worst case scenario, if the Republic did invade at least…" At least this young friend of theirs, he alone should survive to be a future pillar of their Empire.

What was this stupid notion these patriotic soldiers had about him? Alberich noticed the signs simply because his soul had come from a world that had suffered World Wars! And it was Tanya who taught him about logistics and supply lines! He wasn't worth their sacrifice! Commander Krause had a son and a wife waiting for him at home, Wolfgang had brothers and a mother depending on him and Ludwig also had his own family in Berun.

"May I have my Mondragon back?" He asked nicely, the stunned Ludwig could only wordlessly hand Alberich the rifle. He smiled at them before declaring, "As for your suggestion to retreat alone… I refuse!"

"Huh?" Ludwig and Wolfgang chorused, before both of them had the butt of Alberich's rifle buried in their abdomen. "Urk!"

He turned his radio on, pointedly ignoring that Ludwig and Wolfgang that doubled over in pain and said, "To all of you who think sacrificing yourself for me is a great idea, I hereby reject it! My commander is delusional from blood loss, so I'm taking charge. So get the hell out of here!" He said in one breath.

Silence fell. Obviously Alberich's reaction wasn't what they had in mind when they told him their resolve.

"If that's all… stop gawking and do all you can to survive." Alberich snapped before taking off.

" **Beilschmidt! NO!"**

He shot up like a bullet, higher and higher, inwardly wondering if he would ever regret this decision as he felt numerous hostile mana signature chasing him as he expected. None of his comrades could catch up,since he had plenty of mana left. All he had on him was a Mondragon rifle he couldn't use, one Mk.13 orb, one old model Lambhor-11, a couple of grenades and a dagger.

" _Beilschmidt! Get back here!"_

He laughed as he climbed higher, "No can do, commander!" As expected of Commander Krause, he was still conscious enough to shout into radio. "Aren't we all rationalistic and pragmatic soldiers of the Empire? You should lead Ludwig and the rest instead of saving me." You could do that after regrouping, hopefully he would still be alive by then.

He wondered if Tanya would laugh at him for his stupidity, but he couldn't turn back now.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Berun, Cruscos airport**

Tanya slumped over her desk, exhausted in both body and mind due to mana sickness. That damned orb sucked her dry again today and she could see in the mirror that she had bags under her eyes. If that stupid thing exploded tomorrow, Tanya would definitely write a request to transfer this time. It should get across the upper brass in her current department that she had her limits. No human deserved being toyed with by Schugel's evil invention.

She looked sideways to her mug of coffee. She remembered this mug one of a pair Alberich had bought for them for her eighth birthdays back in OCS. It was a plain white mug at first but Alberich had gotten some black paint and drawn the silhouette of a man in a suit and glasses, along with a quote she liked.

" _Miracles are just illusions for unobservant idiots"_ It was written in cursive on the rim in a font from their old world, so elaborate it looked like decoration instead of words.

It was a nice gift so she had accepted it, and she paid for Alberich's share of mug. He had drawn a silhouette of his family on his, it suited him well. Tanya was attached to her masculinity and job from her past life, while Alberich could never forget his old family.

"Gah, this coffee is terrible." You'd think a high class lab with a lot of funding wasted on that impractical orb could afford a decent coffee bean. "It's on Al's level of brewing." He was a tea-guy, and totally clueless of how to make coffee that wasn't instant. HIs brew was either too bitter or too thin.

 _Crack_!

"Hm? A hairline crack just-" The coffee didn't spill, and she didn't bump it to anything so why this mug suddenly had a small crack like this? There was a superstition that said that this was a sign of misfortune, but of course Tanya didn't believe it. She drank her coffee in one gulp before wrapping the broken mug in paper before throwing it into the trash.

"Hmph… what bad luck." Throwing her uniform into the laundry basket and putting on her pajamas, Tanya went to bed. It was too early to sleep but Tanya was exhausted. Despite this however her eyes wouldn't relax, her mind kept spiraling towards a certain redhead who was out there flying in the cloudy skies of the Rhine. "Damn it Al! Get your ass back to the rear soon, you're cut out for front line even less than me." In comparison to her, Alberich was a simpler and peace loving individual. He just wanted a quiet, humble life while drawing and painting to his heart's content

Alberich once joked he would retire from military early and be one of those old men painting in his spare time and telling stories about good ol days. It wasn't an ambitious dream, but Tanya thought Alberich deserved peace and quiet after his past life was cut short. Of course, Tanya didn't feel guilty because it was Alberich's choice to help Tanya back then. They had agreed that Tanya didn't owe Alberich anything.

However…

" **You still hold onto your unfaithfulness, I see…"**

Tanya sat up as soon as she heard that hateful voice, her eyes widening in shock when she saw the mug she had thrown away sitting on her desk. The mouth of the salaryman silhouette was moving.

"You!"

Slowly the scenery of her private room washed away to reveal the white space she had appeared in after her death and the silhouette on the mug materialized into a familiar old man in a toga. " **You haven't changed at all… sinful human."**

Tanya groaned, "This is the most unpleasant reunion I could imagine, and I wish you wouldn't appear when I have a headache." She did wish she had a rifle to shoot his mouth though.

" **You are in a grave situation…"** Indeed, being Schugel's lab-rat counted as mortal peril. " **Yet, you didn't call out for God."**

The little girl scoffed, "I'm sorry, but I am not that delusional or weak to cling to God. I will write a letter to request a job transfer, black on white… like any sensible salaryman. So shove your nonsense to someone who will hear it, your sales strategy is terrible… I don't think even Al will buy it."

Being X just looked at her scornfully, " **Thanks to you, even that child has grown stubborn… he is convinced I'm not the same God he ought to worship…"**

Tanya grinned at that, "That's your fault not mine, while I don't agree with Alberich… I will say any believer with common sense will not follow an unreasonable God like you." Just like how no employee would follow an incompetent boss.

" **Such a shame… those who believe in me should endure any hardship in their faith."**

She snorted, "I told you, no human will believe in a God without equal exchange for their faith. So far you have given neither Alberich nor I any reason to believe in you. The fact you threw us to this wretched world to grow our faith just proves you have no sense at all… Alberich can be stupid at times but he is sensible enough to see you're not worthy of worship."

The entity grew silent before saying, " **It's surprising… but you have grown in unexpected ways, lost lamb…"**

Tanya frowned, she didn't like what this entity had said. "Yeah, since you put me in this body-"

" **I mean towards that lamb of mine you lead astray from me…"** Being X drawled on, " **I wonder… would you keep your stubbornness if I take him away from you?"**

Some part of her mind said she couldn't care less, she wasn't someone weak enough to cling to bonds with other humans. However the larger part of her was furious with Being X for once again toying with her and Alberich! The bastard got them stuck together in this world and he had the nerve to threaten to take Alberich away whenever he pleased. As if Alberich, another human being, was no more than a trinket Being X gave to her on a whim. She had always known Being X didn't care about Alberich, even his words about being more lenient to the boy were a big fat lie.

However… listening to this entity playing with their lives, and not even sparing Alberich who just happened to get dragged into the mess between them was just…

"Don't you dare!" Tanya howled, "Who do you think you are, toying with him?! With US! I hate you and you hate me, it's mutual! However… getting rid of Alberich just to get my faith doesn't make any sense! You have done _nothing_ to regain his faith." That guy was adopted and returned like unwanted merchandise! He acted like he didn't care but for someone whose life had revolved around a family in his previous one there was no way he didn't feel anything. "And you certainly have no right to play with his life!"

Being-X had no right to take Alberich away from her life or his own.

" **We will see… lost lamb. You will witness a miracle and perhaps then you will see the truth."**

And then he left, the space of nothingness disappeared and was replaced again by the small room she occupied in the military airport. Tanya looked around, her azure eyes bloodshot with fury. She jumped from her bed and retrieved the mug from waste basket, unwrapping the paper and staring at the neatly drawn silhouette of a salaryman and her personal quote that Alberich had written.

She checked inside and saw that the crack hadn't reached that far, just the outside surface. So she used mana like sandpaper to smooth out the cracked surface, the resultant patch being slightly uneven because of the lack of glaze, but it was as good as new now. "Hmph! I… we will not lose to you, vile piece of shit!" She cursed as she put the mug down.

She was about to go to the wastafel to wash her face but turned back to the mug, "I am just keeping this as symbol of perseverance in defying Being X!" It was a proof of determination, like how Japanese people would draw one eye on daruma doll and vowed to draw the other eye when they accomplished their goal. It had nothing to do with who the giver was of course!

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Rhine/Francois Republic Border**

He was already 6000 feet above sea level, and soon he couldn't climb up anymore without risking his life more than he already had. Even though he succeed drawing the enemy forces away from his allies, Alberich was running out of ideas. No matter how he cut it, even with massive mana reserves a lone mage couldn't win against eighteen to one odds. Then again, the objective was survival not victory.

' _A shame I can't copy Tanya's tactic here.'_ First of all, his comrades were retreating. Even if somehow Alberich managed to copy Tanya's great escape through faked suicide, he would just die in a ditch. Also, these guys seemed to be set on eliminating him for good, and not on a pressing schedule to make reckless moves. The only upside was they were all exhausted, especially their commander. All mages had an innate ability to sense mana though not as accurate as radar, so Alberich had a rough guess of his enemy's condition. They still had their numbers, and the Republican mages were masters of exploiting that particular advantage.

The only thing that came to mind was turning their strategy against them, aiming for their commander and hopefully they would turn into a disorderly crowd. ' _But that means I'm up against a Named mage one on one.'_ Alberich didn't have time to contact the Command Post to access their Named library, and he was no shounen protagonist who would attempt defeating a last boss level enemy like that. ' _Should I try hit and run tactics?'_ That wasn't a feasible tactic either, after what happened last time these Republican mages might be desperate enough to randomly shoot any cloud he used for shelter. Active shell ate up a lot of mana. If they pelted him long enough with mana enhanced bullets even his thick shell wouldn't last.

' _It's a gamble for sure,  
but surviving that obstacle with my own power is the best feeling there is.'_

Or so Tanya said. There was no need to hesitate when your life was on the line. That sounded like a good idea, so he did what he had never considered. There was one spell he would never cast on himself, knowing this body with ADHD would react badly to it. Or rather he wasn't sure how badly it would, but he could imagine it was akin with over-dosing children like him with sugar.

' _A terrible idea indeed.'_ But desperate situations called for desperate measures.

"Opening magic circuit. Cutting off the sense of pain. Increasing reaction time-" He mumbled under his breath, "Magic doping…" It was the list of enhancement spells Tanya used on herself back in Norden, and according to Tanya, she _lost it_ for a bit afterward.

As soon as the familiar buzzing on his head started Alberich had time to think that it really was a bad idea. Just before coherent thought became impossible.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Francois Republic 301st Mage Wing**

At last their target had stopped climbing up, a good thing since they didn't have enough mana to bear climbing any higher. He had heard rumors that several mages in the Imperial Army were mana powerhouses, but this was ridiculous. This mage should be running out of gas by now, but if Foch had estimated his capacity right this fellow at least had around half of his capacity left after their intense battle.

Mana capacity wasn't the only thing about this Imperial Mage that bothered him, that stature… "It's a child soldier." The Major said quietly to himself. "He couldn't be older than my son." Why the heck would the Empire place a kid on the frontlines?!

Also… this boy, why did he suddenly became very still? Foch suddenly became hesitant. If this child surrendered... "Boy, if you surrender now… we will guarantee your right as a prisoner of war!" This kid had blood on his hands, but Foch would be damned if he didn't offer this choice through an open channel at least.

For a moment, Foch dreaded this child soldier would spout some patriotic declaration and refuse to surrender. Or the opposite, start bawling like a child his age. The boy however did neither. Instead they heard the cheery voice of a child mixed with bell like laughter. "Eh- _he he...surrender, ah yes! Treaty of worms, I learned that in school!"_ A pause, " _Or was it Hague Convention? Aha ha-"_

It sent a chill down his spine, to hear the innocent voice of a child speaking in the Empire's mother tongue. That was when Foch wondered if he should reply in the same, but he couldn't speak the Imperial language. Then the child's voice rang through open channel again. This time, it was in English. "Good morning- _oops wrong language_ -" Did he hear this mage wrong or had he heard native language of Akitsushima in the last half of his sentence? The next try contained speech more familiar, while the accent was thick he could understand the boy at least.

"Bonjour… he he, did I get that right?" The boy was waving his rifle now as if it was an extension of his arm.

"Yes, I can understand you." Foch answered hesitantly.

The boy straightened up at that, "Thank you for the offer." Whatever came over the boy had calmed down somewhat. "But I can't do that." The boy said as if it was the most obvious choice in the world. "I have my orders."

There was no passion in his voice, none of the bravado Foch had come to expect from fellow soldiers on the battlefield. It was as if his words were a reality that had to be stated.

"War is no place for a child!" He roared.

Said child covered his lips, muffling a giggle."I have a question." He held his free hand up like a student asking for permission to speak in class.

Just how many language this boy know? Four? Undoubtedly this boy was a wunderkind, what a shame he was born on Imperial soil instead of theirs. "Yes?"

"Which-one-of-you-is-the-commander?" He asked so quickly Foch almost thought the boy would bite his tongue.

He flew slightly forward, "I am, Major Foch, Francois Republic Army."

Foch could almost imagine the boy was smiling when he chirped, "Merci bien!"

CLANK!

Then the next thing Foch knew the boy was on him, their bayonets clashing violently. "Kuh."

"Commander!"

Just now, it was as if the boy burst with kinetic energy and closed the distance between them in a blink of an eye. Even the pressure of his weapon against Foch's was heavy. Where did this power came from? "You…" Something was really wrong with this child soldier, from this close distance Foch could see his green eyes were empty as if his soul wasn't inside his body. The boy was also giggling helplessly but there was no humor in it, as if he laughed because he couldn't help it. HIs laughter sounded more like cries of a helpless child in his ears.

Foch tried to disengage but the red haired child stuck closely to him, the small but agile body was darting wildly around his like an annoying fly. His comrades were in confusion as they couldn't shoot with Foch in the way.

"StupiIdiotMoronAnnoying." The boy chanted, rapid fire. "GoAway-GoAway-GoAwayGoAwayGoAwayGoAway!" His ears were ringing, but at least the boy had turned off the open channel so Foch was the only one subjected to his incessant rambling.

"Kid!" Foch barked, "What the heck did your superiors dose you with?!" He became even more hesitant to just off this boy, because obviously the Imperial Army had mistreated this child!

Then much to Foch's surprise, the boy withdrew a few feet away. It should have been his chance to subdue this berserk child but suddenly the boy burst into tears. "Hic… hic, Nietzsche is right, God is dead… Tanya said so too…"

The Major had seen kids with mood swing, even his own son was quite temperamental at times when he didn't get his way. But this was extreme even to a father like him. Foch was stunned by the display, but not his subordinates who didn't forget this boy had killed too many of their comrades today. Seeing their chance as the boy was no longer sticking to their commander like glue, three mages opened fire. The boy didn't dodge and was covered in fire and smoke.

Foch shouted, "What the heck did you do?!"

"But Commander, this boy- no- this demon has killed so many of our comrades!" His subordinate argued.

That wasn't the problem here, moron! Foch wanted to scream, but then once again chime like laughter could be heard through the dissipating smoke. "Even altruism is already dead in this world" The smoke cleared away, revealing the boy whose temple and arm were bleeding lightly, it seemed his active shell was enough to protect him from the worst of that attack. "Because the world treat kindness cruelly." The boy lamented in anger, waving his rifle around restlessly.

What the boy said made his heart break, "No, we-" His subordinates lost their patience, and three hotheads charged. "STOP!" Foch didn't know why but he feared not for the boy but for his men.

The next thing they knew, the boy's mage knife burst with energy and the men who was still a good six feet away were cut in two from the torso down. The boy had been closing in, the blood soaked his body, his mage coat and part of his face were painted in a red shade not unlike his hair. The boy looked stunned by his blood soaked state, staring at his hand in a daze.

Foch's group was in the same state, especially the Major. He couldn't believe his eyes that, for a moment, that rifle looked like a scythe. Then their ears were deafened by a howl of despair.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

Alberich was regretting doping himself to hell and back as now he was paying the consequences by acting like a clown in front of enemy mages. It was a miracle itself that the enemy commander had offered taking him as prisoner of war, and rationally it wasn't a bad offer. His body was that of a child, if he planned it right the Republic would mistake him for a child conscript or some other kind of sob story.

However, being high from this maximum mana surge his body was going through meant Alberich had thrown his rationality out the window. His thoughts were clouded with a mix of giddiness, anxiety and anger, all mixed together with a mana surge into a terrible concoction in his body and mind. His mouth spoke in rapid fire, not even thinking about what he said as his brain couldn't catch up with his tongue. Somehow he had a shred of sensibility left and felt excited that the enemies were talking instead of shooting him, felt wronged they looked at him as if he was a freak and, felt angry because the idiots were shooting him.

He managed to level his voice somewhat but there was still a tremble in his voice from energy rush.

And then his mana reacted, sharpening and lengthening his bayonet before cleaving the three mages cleanly. Their blood bathed him and the smell of iron invade his nostrils, clearing his mind from the fog. Then reality began to sink in and Alberich lost control of himself. He screamed.

He killed them! He took away their life so cruelly. However when the noise started, his mind became clouded again as he darted around to dodge raining bullets. "Noisy! Be quiet! STOP!STOP!" The noise made his whole body uncomfortable, he wanted to rip his ears off! His free hand clawed on his face and he sobered again slightly due to the pain.

Alberich cried, ' _I'm tired… but I don't want to die.'_

Usually he would start to pray for salvation by now, but all he could think about was survival. Maybe the adrenaline had gone to his head, even his pained body was getting numb. Since when had he tried this hard on his own, not wishing for God to help him at all? Perhaps he started to be convinced by Tanya's argument that Nietzsche is right, God is dead. Even though he watched a movie with a title that said otherwise, he couldn't even remember the killer argument from that religious college student.

" **That isn't true, my child…"**

The voice of Being-X, he recognized it. However he couldn't even spare a thought to beg for his life, as this cruel God was the one who punished him like this. No wonder Tanya didn't rely on God, if this Being X put him in this hell on a whim, letting this entity save him would be the same as throwing away all of his dignity as a human with free will.

" **I didn't mean to make you suffer so, this is just a trial of faith."**

Is it fair for a God to test the love of his believer? Wasn't it sacrilegious the other way around, then why not vice versa? Why should he believe in _this_ God, his parents said God is fair but this one was just petty. Being X only want to see him and Tanya suffer, throw away their dignity and beg. He was in a desperate situation, mortal peril where pride meant shit but even so he wanted his dignity intact.

" **I won't degrade you so… I will prove it to you, just ask and I shall grant you salvation."**

Hell, no. He couldn't trust a petty God to save him.

" **Sigh… so you won't believe me unless I show my sincerity, very well!"**

Then his mind became cloudier than ever before.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

Foch trembled, "What just happened?" The boy stopped all of a sudden like a puppet whose puppeteer had frozen. The atmosphere around the boy changed, and it made them hesitate from shooting the child soldier full of holes. His mind told him to kill the bloodsoaked child soldier now or he would regret it forever but his body refused to obey.

 _Run,_ his instinct told him.

His trembling hand swept over empty air and a holographic screen appeared, Foch zoomed in the view so he could get a good look at the boy's face. ' _Why… his eye color-'_ It had turned to a vivid shade of gold. Mage's eyes took a more vivid shade of their original color when using mana, and Foch had heard when a mage with certain capacities let out their maximum output of mana their pupil would turn red because mana surge flooded the circuit on their eyes.

This was certainly an abnormal phenomenon, even if the boy had been anything _but_ normal since they had laid their eyes upon him.

" _ **Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine on them...**_ " The boy sang through open channel, and from close up view Foch saw the boy was smiling benignly at them. It was a beautiful smile, like an angel and his eyes were looking at them with indescribable warmth.

Then he held his rifle up like one would a spear, the bayonet blurring as the blade materialised the form of a scythe once again. "Ge...ge-" Foch felt his tongue became numb and used his all to choke out, "GET AWAY FROM HIM! RUUUN!"

His warning came too late, the scythe was swung and his subordinates closest to the incarnation of death were torn to pieces. " _ **Hear my prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come. Grant them eternal rest, 0 Lord, and may perpetual light shine on them."**_

Then the slaughter began. Before them was no longer a child of humanity but a messenger of death sent by God to harvest souls. Foch fired his strongest spell, desperate to destroy the monster in human form together with his comrades. But their struggle was fruitless as the god of death danced in the sky, and all he could hear was a gentle and warm voice that had no place on the battlefield.  
When everything turned red, and then quickly from red to black, all Foch could hear was the requiem that accompanied him into death.

" **Lord, grant them rest…"**

* * *

 **Phew! I am so glad I'm done with this part... I hope I portray Alberich's tantrum well, it's based on personal experience so I'm not sure how accurate it is. So Alberich, no more doping spell for you.  
Also... I edited last chapter so Alberich attacked the artillerymen in gentler way, as apparently inflicting pain severely isn't allowed in war. Thanks to Ocean Sailor for correcting me.  
**

 **As for Alberich's second name, the remaining contender are Paladin and Ardent, so anyone who wants to vote now... do write your choice in your review.**

 **BTW for those who haven't check Batoto out, BD extra of Youjo Senki is out and we can wait for manga chapter 23 next.  
Of course, please leave a review that tells me what you think before you run off to Batoto ^^ **

**Stay tuned and wait for next update.  
12th Record: You Can Only Die for Me  
**


	13. 12th Record

**12th RECORD  
You Can Only Die for Me **

**Berun, Cruscos Airport**

Tanya was in the middle of writing her third request for improved working conditions when a sudden knock on the door caused her hand to slip and leave an ink blot on the paper. It was times like this she missed modern conveniences like ballpoint pens. Tanya quickly signed the letter before rushing to answer the door. "Coming! Who is it?"

The question was answered as soon as she opened her door. It was Major Elric Alphonse von Einzbern of all people, the head instructor of the magic class in OCS. "Major Einzbern, what can I do for you?" This man was very fond of Alberich, Tanya saw him often in OCS because she and Alberich were always together. To an extent this instructor had also done her some favours for Alberich's sake, though she didn't appreciate it when the Major tried to spoil them like children.

"There's a telegram from the West, the Francois Republic has declared war and crossed the Rhine border."

It had begun. The world war they had predicted was here. "I see…" Tanya kept her composure. "Am I going to be deployed to Rhine?"

Einzbern heaved a sigh, "You're quick on uptake but… no, it's not decided yet." Tanya wasn't sure if she should be elated that she could be sent to frontline and away from Schugel, or lament about how easily they approve sending a little girl to war.

She hesitated before trying her luck. "Is it… Al? Is he okay?"

He shook his head, "The battle just started this morning. Due to our vigilance our Western Theater border forces responded promptly and strongly."

 _Alberich. Good job._ Tanya thought. "I see…"

"The Western border forces didn't get caught off guard, which is better than expected considering we didn't see this invasion coming."

 _Yeah, right… as if it wasn't obvious the Republic wouldn't sit on their laurels and watch us secure the North._ Tanya coughed, "All thing considered, the border force in Rhine is doing pretty well against the Republicans then."

"Yes, they fended off the Republican vanguard splendidly." Einzbern confirmed, "I entrusted Beilschmidt to a friend of mine, a veteran mage who knows very well what a valuable mage your friend is to the Imperial Army."

Tanya fought the urge to roll her eyes, ' _And yet you sent both of us, these valuable human resources, to the front anyway…'_ Then again, if Einzbern had any say Tanya was sure this magic-otaku would get Alberich stuck in some magic lab to develop new spells all day. "Uh… Major Einzbern, did you come just to tell me this news?" A Major coming just to tell a second lieutenant information from the border was a bit…

"Oh, I come to check whether you're still in one piece Degurechaff!" Then he paused, "I mean, to see if my former student is healthy and working hard in her new workplace!"

Tanya's left eye twitched dangerously, ' _This pompous noble certainly treats Alberich differently. It's almost creepy.'_ Could it be he had _that_ kind of interest in Alberich? She had heard in passing Einzbern was a very desirable bachelor in their ranks but he didn't even go out to the bar and the like to look for female companionship. ' _...Maybe I should arrange an accident for this guy if he shows slightest inclination for such.'_

She had been wary of pedophiles in this world. Without Child Protective Services, aside from when they got extra money from gullible adults while working in the church, their attractive looks invited more danger than benefit. As proven in the Imperial army, being a pair of cute child wasn't advantageous at all.

"Degurechaff?"

She had zoned out again, "I see…" Tanya laughed mirthlessly, "Well then Major Einzbern, I will look forward to fight with my friend in Rhine to defend our Fatherland." She raised her hand in a salute to the Major.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Rhine Theater, Emergency medical tent 03**

"Mage doctor!" Ludwig and Wolfgang screamed, "There's must be something wrong with Beilschmidt!"

The mage doctor, a middle aged woman who introduced herself as Doctor Briede, rushed to them. She had received this patient late in the afternoon from this pair of aerial mages. They had also dropped off one heavily injured commander and another pair of mages with severe mana exhaustion before going back to the battlefield to pick up their friend that had stayed behind to stall their enemies.

To be honest, when Briede saw them off she was sure these young men would come back disappointed and grieving. She had been an active mage doctor for decades and in most cases of a heroic individual covering their comrade's retreat they did not survive. That was why the Silver Wing Assault Medal was the highest honor in their military. She didn't expect them to come back with a very young aerial mage that was still breathing. What surprised her the most was his blood soaked body, as if he had purposely bathed himself in blood. And most of it wasn't his. Briede couldn't wrap her head around this phenomenon as Aerial Mage battles were usually quite clean unless they were helping ground forces down in the trenches. The boy's mage coat was all bloody and matted.

After the nurses cleaned the boy as best they could she found; three bullet wounds in his right arm, a graze in his temple from a bullet that would leave small scar and another two bullets in his right leg. They all miraculously avoided the major blood vessels in his limbs and he could recover very quickly with the assistance of healing magic.

All thing considered, it was a miracle the boy survived fighting half of a battalion on his own. These young men had been hopeful when they went back to the battlefield, saying their enemies should be exhausted and far away from reinforcements, so the chance of their friend's survival was high. Briede supposed escaping on his own wasn't an impossible task, but then…

' _It doesn't explain his blood soaked body.'_ She looked at the men. "He has severe mana exhaustion, and it's quite likely that due to his large mana capacity it put him in a coma-like state." A large mana capacity was usually a blessing to any mage, but this boy's capacity was so immense his body had shut down in order to regain what he'd lost. "It's quite normal but… he didn't react to any of the stimuli we tried on him."

"But why, doctor?" Wolfgang asked warily, "You said it yourself, he should wake up by now." In fact if he remained in this state too long it became more likely that Alberich might have incurred brain damage. With no immediate family, and only the young Degurechaff as anything more than a fellow soldier, there was no one to take custody of him if he remained in a vegetative state. No one at all.

 _We shouldn't have followed his order._

This had replayed in their minds like a broken record ever since they found him in that macabre scene.

 _Flashback_

 _Even though the war against Francois Republic had just started casualties were already mounting, so it was fortunate the Wolfgang-Ludwig pair had no difficulty finding a medic tent set up a slight distance from their base. The now unconscious Krause had been adamant they shouldn't waste time on him and ask for reinforcements to go back for Alberich. By a miracle, First Lieutenant Schwarzkopft managed to scrape together a mismatched squadron from surviving aerial mages to be re-deployed in a rescue mission._

 _He even went as far as revealing that Alberich was the subordinate that had alerted everyone to the incoming invasion. Thus, everyone coming with them was determined to save Alberich, rushing with desperate battle plans in mind._

 _None of that mattered as what they found was a desolate battleground._

 _There were the sounds of artillery booming in the background like passionate percussion instruments in a marching band, but the Gods of War were missing their usual liveliness. By rights their squadron should have been bombarded, but these enemies weren't even looking at them. The eyes of the artillerymen were focused on the massacre in the sky._

 _A familiar little figure was dancing in the air, wielding his Mondragon rifle as his blade. It was a strange sight as the mages in the air seemed to be petrified by fear and their movements were nowhere near as swift as the enemy they faced. Yet, they didn't flee either as if the idea of escaping never crossed their mind._

 _The child mage's coat was dyed in blood of his enemies. And as his scythe cut through another Republican mage his small body was dyed darker to the point that even his vivid crimson hair lost its lustre to the gore._

" _Is that Beilschmidt?" Wondered their commander, voicing out their shared thought._

 _Ludwig felt his throat dry up. For some reason his heart was screaming that it wasn't their young comrade who was obsessed with creating new spell and drawing. Alberich would run like a smart mouse from army of cats in the face of impossible odds, he wasn't someone who would slaughter his enemies down to the last individual._

" _Lord, grant them rest…"_

 _He stopped when he spotted them, the tattered coat and blackened blood made him very much like a bloody spectre coming to harvest souls on earth. Their commander snapped out of the petrifying spell the macabre scene had cast on them and ordered them to open fire on the remaining mages. There were two flights left, and as they had lost both their commander and numerical advantage the enemy mages fell quickly to their volleys of fire._

 _Alberich moved at the last moment, the last terrified enemy mage barely had time to scream before the ghoulish combatant was upon him. The body fell to earth, neatly bisected, and despite the altitude managed to fall together with the rest of the blade's victims. The pile of corpses looked like it was trying to reach the heavens._

 _Shells were still flying in the air but the ones firing them was in such disorientated state their squadron didn't see any point in wasting bullets on them. The one they had come to rescue had put on such a magnificent show of unearthly terror that the Republican army, who had been given a front row seat, was completely demoralised._

 _The scriptwriter and protagonist of this terror stopped in the air, cocking his head to the side and giving them a full view of his young profile. His expression was serene, as if he was at peace, but if they looked deeper to those pools of gold all they would see was turmoil and despair. Then the child went limp, bloodied mondragon rifle and half-melted orb falling from his arms. Commander Schwarzkopft rushed forward together with them, catching Alberich before he hit the ground._

 _They didn't retreat right away, and Ludwig was about to protest when he saw the look on Commander Schwarzkopft's face. He was looking down at the Republican armies, carrying Alberich in his arms. At that moment both Ludwig and Wolfgang felt a mix of hate and respect for their commander as it dawned on them why Schwarzkopft had delayed in retreating._

 _Their commander was sending a message to their enemies. The chief culprit of the terror these men had witnessed today was alive and would return to the Rhine battlefield. Alberich would come back and put the fear of death in them. Today, Alberich himself had taught them that terror was weapon not even artillery could match. So they knew what Schwarzkopft did was expected of a soldier and leader with a brilliant mind. They respected him for this, but also hated him for exploiting Alberich._

 _The boy would never want this for himself._

 _However they could only keep their mouth shut and retreat as slowly as possible in front of the surviving enemies, like a marching parade for their new hero. Now they understood. Alberich was right to call Rhine an underworld._

 _End of Flashback_

No one had spoken of what they had witnessed the day before, or how Alberich had _somehow_ managed to kill so many enemy mages on his own. All everyone cared about was that their new hero wasn't waking up and how that would affect morale. Ludwig felt sick, thinking that in grand scheme of war being a hero wasn't as glorious as what was written in fairy tales.

"No stimulant we have administered works… I guess it's because his mana was thoroughly exhausted." Doctor Briede repeated again, "At this rate the medical help provided by an emergency medical station like this won't cut it! So… I recommend transferring him to the capital."

Ludwig quickly latched to that hope, "Is it alright to move him then? Will it help Beilschmidt regain consciousness if he is transferred to larger hospital?" He was sure the Military, or at least Instructor Einzbern, would be willing to spend money on Alberich.

"He is stable enough… but I am unsure how much good it would do this boy. In the end he still has to awaken from this state for us to know if he has any brain damage." Doctor Briede exhaled softly, "Does this boy have any family members he is close to? Usually getting supportive treatment from their loved ones helps comatose patients to regain consciousness."

Ludwig and Wolfgang exchanged look, "Well, he is an orphan. But Beilschmidt does have a childhood friend he is close to." To the point that, before separate deployment, they thought the pair were joined at the hip. "She happens to be in capital now but-"

"Ohoo…" Doctor Briede whistled, "Then get this girl to take care of him."

They had seen Alberich taking care of Tanya and vice versa, but they couldn't imagine that girl would do gentle kind of care the way Alberich would if their situation was reversed.

"Erm… let's just get his transfer arranged first."

Commander _S_ chwarzkopft, who had been standing behind them for who knows how long sighed in despair, "Einzbern will kill me the next time he sees me."

Suddenly the idea of coming back to Berun sounded like a very bad idea. Instructor Einzbern would get mad at Commander _Schwarzkopft,_ but a certain sadistic little girl would blame them. This was one reason why they didn't want Beilschmidt to pull dangerous stunts under their watch, his childhood friend was a very terrifying little girl.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Cruscos Airport**

Doctor Schugel was never happy to see a certain Major anywhere near his research facility. More so when he charged in and not only forcefully stopped his experiment before it had even begun, as if he had any authority in Schugel's lab, but also took away his test personnel.

"I have a tight schedule to follow, Major!" He screeched.

Einzbern was scowling now, "It's family emergency for Degurechaff!"

"Ha! You can't fool me, she is an orphan!" Second Lieutenant Degurechaff wouldn't be there in the first place if she had any relatives left.

Schugel was oblivious to the glares and mutterings of his staff for his words. They knew he was socially inept but it was uncalled for to call a girl as young as the second lieutenant an orphan and imply she had no family to speak of!

The girl in question didn't seem to be listening to Schugel, there was only one person in trouble that could be considered a family emergency for Tanya by their superiors. "What happened to Al?"

"He is injured, and was transferred to the central military hospital this afternoon." Major Einzbern explained, "The telegram I received explained that his injury isn't life threatening but he has exhausted his mana to the point where he's fallen into a semi-comatose state. There's a possibility he suffered brain trauma in the battles against the Republican mages…"

Tanya was enraged when she heard this, that accursed self-proclaimed God had made his threat a reality! She clenched her fist so tightly, she started to draw blood. "May I come with you, Major?"

"Of course, I came to pick you up." Einzbern wanted his protege to have support from a close friend like Degurechaff.

Schugel wasn't going to make it easy for them, "What about my experiment?!"

Einzbern growled at him, "Soldiers aren't your slaves! Your damned experiment can wait! In case you forgot Schugel, Degurechaff is still a member of my department so I can very well give her leave to visit an injured family member!"

And then Einzbern grabbed Tanya by her shoulders and ushered her out of the military airport, pointedly ignoring Schugel's screeches of protest.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Central Military Hospital**

When she arrived at the hospital she was greeted by the sight of Ludwig standing outside of Alberich's room. It was surprising that he was allowed to dawdle here over an injured comrade. He should be back at Rhine, but from determined and guilty look Tanya saw on his face the brunette wasn't staying because he missed Berun. Tanya didn't give him a chance to speak, quickly following Major Einzbern straight into the room.

What she found was the prone form of Alberich. He looked very much dead to the world, and if not for the steady rise and fall of his chest she would think he was already dead. Pale skin was something they shared but compared to her he looked ashen, and when she reached out to his hand it felt cold.

"Degurechaff…" Ludwig called out from his place by the door frame. "We're so sorry…" Tanya didn't respond so he continued. "He… stayed behind to protect his retreating comrades. He was the only one who could keep going after the rest of us had exhausted our mana."

Tanya gritted her teeth, "What's the use of you staying with him anyway? You weaklings will just be a burden." She muttered before adding. "Is that what you thought when you left him?"

For a moment his mouth was about to utter a denial, but he steeled himself and was honest. "Yes!" Ludwig admitted with shame, "I didn't want to but I tried to come back as soon as we could with reinforcements! He is alive but… he won't wake up."

Tanya didn't look at them, her eyes rooted on the comatose Alberich. "By the rationalistic paradigm of our military you did the right thing…" She trailed off, before her lisping voice took an icy tone. "But that's not what I want to hear."

"Degurechaff, we-" Ludwig trailed off.

"Get out." Tanya said quietly with a tone of finality, "Or I can't guarantee that I'll hold myself back."

Einzbern watched his former student leave reluctantly before his eyes drifted back to Degurechaff, whose back was trembling. He turned to leave, wanting to stay but decided it was for the best. Quietly, and without excusing himself, he closed the door behind him.

Tanya inhaled deeply as she felt the older mages move further away and stalked forward with a hiss. "Alberich, you idiot woman! Why the fuck did you put yourself in danger for other people again?!"

As expected, no answer came from the unconscious boy. Tanya wanted to scream! Looking down at Alberich lying helplessly in bed made her feel defeated. For a moment her hands gained minds of their own mind and wrapped themselves around his delicate neck.

She stopped. "No, if I lose it here… Being X wins."

No, not yet! Alberich was still alive! This idiot would wake up and then say a smartass line that would make her want to throttle him for real!

He just had to wake up!

"You died once for me." She pulled her hands from his neck and instead grasped the hand he had tried to save her with a lifetime ago. "You died with me…"

Her grip on his limp arm tightened, "Al… I don't care whether or not Being X is the God you worship or not, it doesn't matter! He said he was going to take you away from me so I'll know true pain and submit to him…" Tanya hissed, her voice trembled with anger and frustration. "Are you going to let yourself be used as a tool to torture me?"

 _Didn't you bravely defy Being-X because you couldn't stand him forcing you to change my mind? Didn't you argue for our right to think for ourselves?_

Her short nails dug into his skin as she said, "I'm not letting you go…. Not to this accursed world or to Being X! If you have to die once again it will be for my sake by your own choice! You hear that, Al! You can't die here!"

Tanya's breath hitched as her anger started to cloud her mind. She was enraged by this unreasonable world that was only beginning to be scorched by the flames of war, and by that petty God who refused to leave them alone.

"You can only die for me!"

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

Did anyone ever feel there sometimes death could be salvation from life? Alberich was from a religious family in his past life so he was taught that death wasn't the end, that whenever a relative passed away they should pray for the deceased to go to heaven. The idea of heaven seemed so remote when he was a little girl. All he knew was that to be warmly welcomed by their Father in Heaven he had to be a good girl.

That little girl believed everyone would be kind, because surely all humans long for such a heaven? That belief was shattered when Alberich was enrolled in school and learned earlier than his peers about the ugly side of humanity. God's teachings couldn't force humans to accept abnormal people like himself, and the only ones he could trust were his parents and brothers. The look on the teacher's face was that of a contempt, wishing that he was anywhere but in her class making trouble.

' _It was never my choice to born the way I was.'_

It was said children like him were born because of a genetic flaw, but if God was the one who brought his parents together that meant that God shared part of the blame. Of course that traitorous thought was quickly crushed and forgotten, because a good child wouldn't scorn God. His family was hardly the most unfortunate family in the world, even with all three children saddled with SEN status his family was wealthy and stable.

Was that enough to be grateful to God? For giving them blessings so his parents could raise special children like his brothers and himself? It was enough he had decided. Even if they had to live with these abnormalities for the rest of their lives, as long as they could grow up to be independent human beings that could take care of their parents in their old age, it would be fine.

Or so they thought until they realized his youngest brother wasn't getting better mentally. That was when Alberich in his past life realized wealth and prayer were worthless if God didn't will a miracle to happen. His youngest brother was a genius who from a young age easily mastered Chinese Hanzi, Japanese Kanji, Korean Hangul, the Arabic and Latin alphabets. He could memorize maps from all over the world and redraw them from scratch without reference. He even skipped grades in school.

However, he never really mentally matured. His stellar grades were just a pretty number on a paper, and he would live the rest of his life without being a truly independent individual. When this reality dawned on his family, Alberich was truly afraid for the brother's future.

Then his mother said that if she died perhaps it was for the best if her youngest died with her. ' _You and your other brother are unable to take care of our youngest!'_ The truth was his mother couldn't bear the thought of them not being able to have a family of their own and being forced to take care of their youngest brother instead. He wanted to protest but his tongue went numb whenever this topic was raised. On one hand he understood why his mother had said such an outrageous thing. On the other he wanted her to know he would do his best and would never abandon his brother.

However… he didn't have the courage watch his beloved brother grow old whilst staying a child inside for the rest of his life. So he kept that horrifying thought deep inside and moved on with his life.

" _Why did God make your brother like this? When will He cure him?"_

His mother wondered out loud like this sometimes, but it was the collective thought of everyone in the family. The bleak future of their brother and son haunted them every day. Alberich kept telling himself that they were blessed enough, they should be patient and perhaps a miracle would happen. Even if the miracle didn't happen he could still be there for his family, it wasn't so bad.

But then he died. Taken away from his family and his old world.

The thought of his family still haunted him in this life, and when Tanya wasn't looking Alberich dared to kneel in front of the altar of their church and beg. Even if Being X was a devil or a petty God, Alberich didn't care as long as the miracle his family in another world had hoped from came true. He wished for a sign that his family was alright, and that his brother had become a normal boy who could live his life to the fullest.

He was never answered.

He gave up begging when Tanya dragged him into the Imperial Army, telling him that they had to work hard for their own future. He didn't say anything but deep inside Alberich was deliriously happy Tanya had show him this path. It was a pathway to a future where he could choose for himself. He would be drafted in the future but it was still his decision to decide to be an Aerial Mage now instead of later. He had always loved the idea of magic, so he never regretted becoming an Aerial Mage.

So no matter how hard it got, Alberich gave this path his all. He felt like he was becoming closer to Tanya to Tanya, both personally and in power, in order to become a human who didn't need to wait for a miracle from God but could work hard and achieve it himself. There was worth in his second life, he felt alive and content. He was free…

Then the incident in Rhine happened and Being X had extended his unwanted, godly hand down to Alberich. He was made to dance like a puppet and slaughter the Republican mages without mercy. Alberich had killed, and he hated the idea of killing and being killed. However if he had to kill someone it would be by his own free will, not because God told him to.

Alberich felt violated, and his life had become meaningless once again. What was the point of living when Being X dictated everything? If he stopped being a human with free will, death would be preferable. So when his body shut down from the stress and mana exhaustion, he chose to never wake up again. He heard Ludwig and Wolfgang begging for him to wake up, followed by an impassioned analysis by a mage doctor informing his comrades of his state. Then he was carried away, by train he deduced from the noise of the iron railway grinding against steam powered wheels.

Alberich didn't care anymore, he just wanted to sleep until he died. When he felt a pair of cold hands around his neck the boy didn't resist. Instead he welcomed it. However those hands retracted and once again he was left to his misery.

"Al… I don't care whether or not Being X is the God you worship or not, it doesn't matter! He said he was going to take you away from me so I'll know true pain and submit to him…"

That wasn't what the bastard had told him. Truly, the sincerity of Being X was cheaper than a government official's during an election period.

Then he heard her voice. Nothing like the deep, calm voice of the adult male she used to be but that of a little girl with a lisp even the owner was embarrassed of. He felt a prickling pain in his hand, smiling inwardly and thinking if he was awake he would chastise her for hurting an injured person. The pain however wasn't unbearable, it just told Alberich that he was still in the world of the living.

"I'm not letting you go…. Not to this accursed world or to Being X!"

Tanya… _I am not your belonging be quiet and let me sleep._

"You can't die here!"

That isn't up for you to decide.

"If you have to die once again it will be for my sake by your own choice! You hear that, Al!"

Tanya's breath was hitching and that startled Alberich's mind awake. How unbelievably selfish of Tanya. He had died because of her once before and now she demanded that he die for her in this life too? It was an unreasonable demand, and one that would usually earn Tanya a hit upside her head for being a jerk but…

Tanya sounded angrier than ever, just from her voice Alberich could feel her frustration, hatred and sadness. For someone like her to feel this strongly for his sake he couldn't help but feel flattered. For sure it wasn't because she loved him, at best she was merely attached, but it was enough to make him deliriously happy. Tanya wanted him to live, and if he died it would by his choice to die for her again.

"You can only die for me!"

His lips curled up and heavy eyelids fluttered, revealing a pair of verdant green eyes that gazed warmly at the enraged girl who was crushing his hand. "Al? You're… awake."

His dry throat hurt when speaking but he didn't mind it. "Guten Morgen, Tanya."

She scowled at him, "It's already evening, you lazy ass!" Hearing his hoarse voice that sounded like a dying toad, Tanya poured water the from pitcher by his bedside to a glass.

"...I want miso soup." After a near death experience he was craving the earthy taste of miso more than ever.

It wasn't like Tanya didn't understand Alberich's craving for Japanese food. "...Don't ask for the impossible, here's your water and drink it." Tanya retorted promptly, handing Alberich his glass of water. Pausing at the sight of grinning Alberich. "What's with the stupid smile on your face?"

Alberich chuckled softly after taking three sips of water to wet his throat, "Thank you for bringing me back."

Tanya stared at him in confusion, "...You're making no sense."

He drained the glass slowly, soothing his throat further.. "And also…" Alberich put the glass down with a gentle clink on his bedside table. "We have a deal."

Tanya blinked owlishly at that, "What deal?"

"That I can only die in this life for your sake." Alberich shook his head, "Such a selfish demand, but who am I to refuse a pretty girl?"

Said girl went beet red at that. The way Alberich put it made her sound like a damsel in distress or a lovesick girl. "How shameless! Did you damage your brain inhaling something weird in the skies of Rhine?"

He didn't have any shame so he went on. "No need to be embarrassed, it's a dream of every little girl to have a knight at her service!"

Tanya howled, "There's no knight here, just a deranged magic-otaku!"

"My, what a wilful princess we have here." Alberich continued his cajoling.

"ALBERICH!"

Unknown to the pair, Einzbern and Ludwig had returned when they heard Tanya screeching in anger at Alberich's shamelessness.

"He woke up but…" Frankly Ludwig was a bit hurt that Alberich woke up only minutes into Tanya's visit when Ludwig had been waiting by his side the whole night. "Aren't boys his age supposed to think girls have cooties?", he mumbled under his breath. "Just what happened here?"

They didn't expect to see Alberich wide awake and the usually somber Tanya trying to throttle her childhood friend. Einzbern just shrugged at Ludwig's question. Even if their Empire was at war now, watching Alberich laughing at Tanya's flustered face gave him hope. They would be alright.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Personnel-Dept Office**

Reading the report from Rhine was stressing, simply because Erich von Rerugen could see this war going from bad to worse in no time. Even though Intelligence did foresee this invasion, until the first shell had exploded in Rhine everyone had been hopeful that it'd never come to pass. Of all people, the one who had taken note first and acted on it was an officer who had just graduated from OCS.

" _He had help from his commander but…"_ The boy was the one to get the ball rolling, and Schwarzkopf wanted to give all the credit to Alberich Beilschmidt.

Obviously if this mage had enough insight to foresee an invasion from just a jammed shipment from the Republic, Erich could tell the boy had a bright future as a senior officer. Einzbern's worry that the boy was lacking in experience seemed to be unfounded. "Then again…"

On top of his merit for alerting his superiors at the cost of risking his own career, the boy also managed to be the key player that foiled the Republic's vanguard force. "Assisting in the rescue of friendlies, eliminating enemy mages, then-"

Rather than sabotaging the Republic's artillery units it was more apt to describe his act as the destruction of enemy morale. "He ordered his comrades to aim for vital spots in the artillery line to save their mana, and then went down himself… his comrades were too busy to get a clear picture of what he did but afterwards the Republic artillerymen were so shaken they had to withdraw…" Even the assistance they provided prior to their retreat was terribly clumsy.

Then there's the impossible act the boy achieved all by himself. His team was heavily outnumbered and just delaying the enemy took all their effort, yet somehow after he was left behind so that they could save their wounded comrades Beilschmidt managed to kill half the Republican mages including their Named commander.

"And then there's the report from both Einzbern and the doctor."

From Einzbern, his friend explained the scythe Beilschmidt utilised in Rhine was a further refinement of the mage knife. As expert mage like Beilschmidt was even capable to use his limbs as blades, but the spell was hard to control if the blade extended three feet further than the medium. Frankly, Erich couldn't care less about the technical details but it was quite interesting nonetheless.

The problem was a report from Mage Doctor Briede in Rhine. She had reported something all mages presents during Beilschmidt's battle had failed to note; that the boy had somehow manage to completely bathe himself in blood. His old uniform had to be burned and she had a hard time washing the blood from the his hair. It didn't help the boy's hair was naturally red so the doctor couldn't tell if she had washed all the blood out or not.

She also included another interesting note in her report, a personal theory on how the boy could slaughter so many grown men by himself. ' _It's the blood the boy painted himself with.'_ Whether it was intentional or accidental, Beilschmidt's blood coated form most likely unnerved the enemy mages to an extreme degree. According to this mage doctor, it had nothing to do with being faint hearted. It was a primitive reflex affecting human's vagus nerve at the sight of blood, or worse, guts. She went on at length on what it did to the human body, which Erich skimmed, but in conclusion the Republic mages lost the mental battle.

"Well… the enemy is a child." Seeing a young boy soaked in blood would have an unnerving effect on even the most hardened warrior. "It wasn't like they were standing still and letting him kill them." But soldiers with low morale were easy prey.

The boy gave magnificent results, even surpassing Degurechaff's war merit in Norden. Erich couldn't help but groan when he remembered just whose childhood friend Beilschmidt was. "Is he corrupted by that girl or he is the same kind of abnormality?"

No, if that was the case Einzbern would be wary of him. Einzbern might be biased towards this talented young mage, but he didn't give the same attention to Degurechaff because he sensed something was off with her. Not to mention the boy didn't have a perfect soldier's persona formed out of nowhere like Degurechaff's. He was as strange but Erich didn't feel unnerved by Beilschmidt.

"Well… the boy terrorizing his enemies could be chalked up to luck." He sighed in relief, "Not to mention Schwarzkopf had nothing but good things to say about the boy, and once he is re-deployed back to Rhine he could be entrusted to lead a flight, maybe even a squadron." Hopefully the latter wouldn't happen but it was very possible if the situation in Rhine deteriorated. He led a pair of mages very well, and it shouldn't be a problem to entrust him with more responsibility.

At the very least, from the report Erich didn't feel like he'd have to worry about Beilschmidt running his subordinates to death like Degurechaff. In fact in Leadership Skill Evaluation it was remarked by the instructor that while he had no problem answering theoretical questions about leading subordinates - _not as efficiently as Degurechaff-_ in practice the boy had a tendency to be indecisive when faced by a scenario where he had to sacrifice someone. That was where the boy's weakness lay.

Other personnel in his department would lament this weakness in an officer, and so did Erich prior to meeting a certain girl, but now he was convinced that a shred of human weakness was a good thing. The Paragon of the ideal soldier from their textbook was a monster in a little girl's skin.

He had heard the project Degurechaff was involved in was doing well compared to it's previous test subject, considering it was led by The Walking Disaster. He didn't have much hope it would hold back Degurechaff for long. His superiors wouldn't want to leave an ace dawdling in the rear when their national security was in danger.

"At least Beilschmidt would be in Rhine too." The boy was obviously biased towards his childhood friend, but Erich could trust him not to let anyone get killed by Degurechaff under his watch. Even if it was for Degurechaff's sake, the incident with the rookie cadet back in OCS told him that Beilschmidt would reign her in.

"And that means..." He glanced at the thin file unopened file on his desk. "I need to get this approved as soon as possible." If the boy had to be Degurechaff's minder, being her equal was necessary. He won't put it past Degurechaff to trample even her childhood friend if Beilschmidt was inferior to her.

The boy had to get his own Silver Wings.

* * *

 ** **AN:****

 ** **It's a very personal chapter for me I think… so it's difficult to write it.****  
 ** ** ** **Also... to Banhaze and Ocean Sailor, this chapter is heavily edited, more than usual... Writing emotional chapter is harder than one packed with action, because it's easy for me to lose track of dialogues.  
********

 ** **I have love and hate relationship with Erich's character, I like his monologue about Tanya that's real funny because… Tanya is a sociopath true but she isn't a war maniac. Also how Erich act like he is the only sane man in Imperial army at times.  
I think Alberich will have a complicated opinion about Rerugen. As you can see here Rerugen have a very high opinion about Alberich, even Al's bias for Tanya is chalked up by Rerugen as childlike quality he could tolerate and think kids would be kids.****

 ** **Of course, it's an open interpretation when it comes to Tanya's and Al's relationship. Frankly, I always feel calling them friends *writing it as such* is out of place. So I will just leave it vague and leave it to you to decide what to call them.  
Also... for second name, Ardent is ahead by one vote than Paladin. So... you guys can keep voting as by 15th Record I am writing now the second name hasn't been mentioned even once. ****

****Remember, we still have Elenium Type-95 arc to conclude. Where Schugel, the character I can love and hate takes center stage. In one hand as a designer he annoys me to death, but some part of me is also loving the part where he screw anyone who tell him how to do his job.****


	14. 13th Record

**Edited by BrazeRancor and Ocean Sailor** ** **(*´ー`)[]** ( ￣▽￣)[] [](≧▽≦ ) It's a hard work fixing this chapter.  
Also I proudly announce that poll for Second Name is closed!  
Here goes Elenium-95 ARC!  
I am pretty nervous about this arc because of Paragon is a very outstanding fic by Lord Kevin fleshed out this arc from LN so well. For sure, my Schugel is nowhere as awesome as his.  
**

 **archiveofourown works / 11845647 / chapters / 28769640 This is linked to AO3 but with bonus character image of Alberich.**

 **ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ** **  
13th RECORD  
Mad Scientists aren't Fictional in this Universe  
** **ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ**

 **Central Military Hospital, Berun**

He disliked oats. The taste was fine, but if it wasn't soggy enough he found the texture unpalatable to his tongue and unpleasant to swallow, and in his past life he would often choke on any type of food labeled whole grain. However, the saying 'hunger was the best seasoning' was true so he couldn't complain about his meal.

"That damned Being-X possessed you?!"

Alberich polished off bowl after bowl of oatmeal, his body was starving after exhausting all of his mana and it craved protein and carbohydrate. According to the regulations he should have been fed constantly by the nurse who carried a big pot of porridge, but for the sake of having a private conversation Tanya had volunteered to feed him instead.

The porridge was soggy enough to easily drink from the bowl and it was tastier than the watery soup they got at the Border since they had mixed in lemon juice, yogurt, lentils and raisins. "Haaa… another bowl please."

"Are you listening?" Tanya growled as she handed him more.

Alberich nodded enthusiastically, "I am listening and yes… Being X controlled my body. It was a terrible experience…" A gloomy cloud hung over him as he gulped down another serving. "It was very scary too, being trapped inside my own mind while watching my body slaughter those mages…" Alberich trailed off, "And think he make me sing a requiem repeatedly on an open channel." He was mostly horror he felt, but shame was the next strongest emotion.

Tanya scrunched her nose at that, "No one mentioned about you singing though."

Alberich nodded, "Either they bleached that part from their memories or I had already stopped by the time they arrived… Seriously, I don't want to be sent to an asylum." He couldn't exactly remember if he'd done something easily missed like press the right buttons on his radio. There had been bigger things to worry about.

Tanya shook her head at that. After all, if the Imperial Army cared about sanity they wouldn't have employed Schugel as their Chief Engineer. "I don't think you're in danger of that. Our glorious army seems to be very tolerant towards the insane." Working under Schugel made her wonder if the psych evaluation back in OCS meant anything at all, or if sanity requirements had ever been established.

Alberich licked his lips, suddenly craving some fresh fruit to go with his oatmeal. "All things considered… I am sure Being X is a devil now."

"Huh?"

"What happened to the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill?" He made me kill people! And those Republicans?" Alberich trembled as he set the mug down, "They were praying, calling out to God to help them…"

" _God, give me strength to slay this monster!"_

" _Oh, God!"_

" _Help!"_

Alberich smiled bitterly, "Isn't this part of his experiment? Both sides… The Republic and the Empire will pray for salvation from war." He clasped his hands together, "He will not reach his invisible hand to them, he'll be content to watch them pray and pray in futile faith…"

Tanya chuckled softly at that, "If he wants me to be like that he should give up. I'm not so weak to rely on a metaphysical being like him."

Alberich smiled wider at that, "True… you're very strong indeed."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere" She huffed, "But aren't you being too lax?"

He beamed, "I've made a complete recovery and should be re-deployed back to Rhine in a week! It can't be helped since casualties are skyrocketing in Rhine, so I can't be idle in the rear for long. Major Einzbern is unhappy but-" He became somber as he remembered he was going back to that hell soon. "I will figure something out."

He looked so cheery now after waking up from his coma, and from what Tanya had seen Being X hadn't inflicted any lasting damage on the boy, but he had acted quite weird yesterday when the nurse offered to administer a painkiller to help deal with his depletion symptoms. She knew those particular pains very well and took a mild painkiller herself every time she tired herself out in the same manner. However, Alberich had vehemently refused after the nurse said the medicine would make him a bit fuzzy headed. For some reason Alberich prefer to be in pain than to be high.

"That's not what I meant."

"Huh?"

Tanya held up a beautiful silver medal, a falcon with its wing spread wide and a crossed scepter and rifle above it. "This."

This was Alberich's first time seeing the medal up close, "What wonderful craftsmanship!" Unlike other medals, which were usually made with a mold, the Silver Wing Assault Medal was actually crafted meticulously by hand like a tiny sculpture. Then again, it wasn't given away so often so he supposed the Imperial army could afford to splurge on them.

"You do realize what you accomplished in Rhine was an amazing rear guard action for the sake of your comrades and the Fatherland?"

"I have been told I should be eligible for an Air Assault Medal or an Iron Cross but-" Alberich's eyes shifted nervously.

Tanya rolled her azure blue eyes at Alberich's attempt to escape from reality, "In the first place, what the hell were you thinking pulling such a heroic last stand?"

There was no way he could say that he was carried away by the mood of the battlefield... "Erm… Actually I thought I could pull something off to escape later in a way that no one could call me a coward." With friendlies evacuating from both the ground and air Alberich had no one keeping an eye on him. "Also… I used a doping spell and it seems like it had a stronger effect than I expected." Once the magic had kicked in any shred of rationality had been thrown out the window.

"Were you in that much mortal peril that Being X had to come rescue- _read-_ screw you?"

Alberich became quiet at that, "Uhm…"

"You know, when it comes to combat you're more reliant on pure magic than anyone in our batch." That included Tanya herself. "But...you're also a better escape artist and stealth expert than any of us." If she didn't know better, she'd think Alberich had secretly been a ninja in his past life. No one in their class could catch Alberich when they played hide and seek in training. He would throw decoys, lower his mana signature and use other diversionary tactics that would make even Tanya lose her patience.

Alberich grew quieter at that before answering, "Well… I was planning to stall for time fighting them actively and then…" As flashily as possible. "Then I could have slipped away when they shot at me with volley fire, using decoys animated to fly higher while I went down. Oh! I can also use a more mana intensive spatial bombardment spell that doesn't leave a trail to its caster, so I would exhaust enough mana to make everyone assume I'd simply run out and retreated!" Finding a safe place to crash would be troublesome, but he wouldn't have been as vulnerable as Tanya was in Norden which made survival much more likely.

Tanya stared harder at him as Alberich sweated bullets. "So? You weren't in mortal peril in the first place." Of course this was true.

Alberich had folded himself in two, burying his face on his knees. "I'm such an idiot…"

Tanya laughed mirthlessly, "Even if you avoided your last stand tidbit under Being X's influence, you'd already earned enough war merit for this medal beforehand…"

"HOW?!"

"You saved all your comrades and threw the Republic's artillery units into disarray…" Tanya listed on, "Your unorthodox methods won't look good on paper since you're being sneaky, but the results speak for themselves." The upper brass is pragmatic, they'll turn a blind eye on _how_ their subordinates get the job done as long as it's done effectively.

Alberich made a sound like a dying cat.

"Oi, stop running from reality! She hissed at him, "I'm sure if the commanding company in Rhine wasn't so busy with the war effort they'd finish gathering the joint signature for your medal even sooner. Be a man!"

"I refuse!" Alberich snapped, "I thought you thought of me as a woman?"

"Oh, come on! Act like the soldier you are..." Tanya trailed off sarcastically. "Other people think you're a guy. My opinion doesn't matter."

 **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

"See?" Tanya cocked her head towards the door. "Come in!"

Alberich stammered, "My heart is not ready ye-" Much to his relief, the one coming was just Major Einzbern followed by Ludwig. Most likely the teen wanted to say goodbye, he had heard he would return to Rhine this morning. It wasn't a group of high ranked personnels bearing the news of-

Ludwig had a silly grin on his face which made Alberich confused, while Tanya had a feeling she would have a very legitimate reason to inflict harm on the idiot. "Wipe that grin off of your face Second Lieutenant Ludwig."

The brunette continued smirking, "Well, if there wasn't a war going on at our border I would say that we could come back later. Right, Major?"

Einzbern wasn't impressed. "Ludwig..." He growled in warning.

Tanya gaped. She wasn't unfamiliar with this routine. Being somewhat isolated from their peers due to their age and talent her familiarity with Alberich had often become subject of teasing from the other cadets in OCS. Both of them ignored it. Besides, it wasn't like Tanya had never gotten it from her previous mother, who had taken joy in teasing her son whenever any girl in kindergarten had spoken with her baby boy.

Even back in the orphanage a lot of the girls were jealous of Tanya for being the one closest to Alberich. Unlike other boys, being a former girl and older in soul made Alberich very caring and gentle when interacting with young children, so he was popular. Unfortunately Alberich showed no interest in anyone but her, so the girls became resentful of Tanya for monopolizing Alberich. Tanya of course didn't care about these little girls, and she was even thankful they left her alone because of it. They stopped inviting her to tea parties and princess play because of him.

Also, being mistaken as an orphan pair in puppy love earned them a lot of sympathy points when they worked in the church, so Tanya deemed that letting the people around them to have their little delusion was more beneficial. She didn't feel like sparing any effort in convincing them otherwise, especially since Alberich also took the same stance. So when they got the same treatment in OCS Tanya had stopped worrying about it and was more concerned about her grades. Such a thing lead to this exchange.

"So even if Beilschmidt's heart isn't ready we have to interrupt your moment." Ludwig turned a deaf ear to everyone.

Tanya flushed, "What the hell do you think we were doing?!" They were ten for fuck's sake!

"This and that-" Ludwig could rarely get a raise out of Tanya so finding this particular button made him bolder.

While Tanya was incensed, Alberich was relieved because there was no sign of high ranking officers coming to his room bearing the bad news. Major Einzbern crushed this hope by stopping Ludwig from agitating Tanya when he said: "We can't keep the people outside waiting. Save your teasing for later."

People?! WHO?!

Then the dreaded group came in. A colonel came forward bearing an official looking envelope with the Reich's two headed dragon seal on it. He took out a paper and began to read. "Second Lieutenant Alberich Beilschmidt." Yep, that was his name. "In battle against the Republican army in Rhine you have shown valor and perseverance as an Imperial mage of our glorious army."

What valor was this senior officer speaking of? In the first half of battle he was hiding and sniping enemies while throwing out decoys as a distraction. Also; perseverance? If it wasn't for Being X he was going to bail from the battlefield as soon as no one was looking! A quick look around the room showed that Tanya's doubtful look was mirrored on both Major Einzbern and Ludwig's faces. Any classmate close enough to Alberich to know his studying habits could tell that, aside from magic, he had a policy to not put any more effort than absolutely necessary to score slightly above average! Heck, he would even cram a day before test!

"Your quick wit in assisting your flight to rescue your comrades, throwing enemy artillery units in disarray-"

Alberich gaped at his kill list. He had downed ten enemy mages! "Colonel, I wasn't conscious for half of it because of the magic rush and adrenaline-"

Tanya covered his mouth, "Shut it!" Even if more than half of Alberich's kill was Being X's doing, suggesting that he wasn't conscious when killing them wasn't going to erase the recorded score. "Never mind, Colonel! His brain is still a bit confused."

The senior officer nodded and easily ignored Alberich's abnormal reaction, which didn't surprise Tanya one bit. The upper brass tended to look at decorated subordinates through rose tinted glasses. "And so to you; the pride of the Imperial army and Mage Corps, we award the Silver Wing Assault Medal." And the silver falcon identical to Tanya's was placed over his shoddy hospital gown.

Everyone in the room clapped for him but Alberich could only look at the medal on his chest. No matter how long he stared at it the falcon wasn't going to fly off out the window. After another round of applause and congratulations they exited the room, leaving an awkward silence behind. Tanya was the first to speak, "Major Einzbern, they're giving the medal to Al now? No ceremony?"

"Well, unfortunately… due to the invasion in the West there's no effort to spend on a grand ceremony." He chuckled softly at Alberich's relieved sigh, he knew how much his protege loved peace and quiet. "And there's still the awarding of your Second Name."

Alberich wanted to scream! There had to be a limit to how unnecessarily generous the upper brass could be! This was certainly Being X playing a joke, repeating Tanya's scenario on him. Who wanted to be a national hero anyway?!

"The Rhine Theater officers are too busy to pool their joint signature, but they unanimously voted to grant you this honor so my friend in the Personnel Department helped expedite the process!"

Who the heck did such an unnecessary thing? Mind your own business, damn it! This friend of Major Einzbern better be praying to Being X that he would never meet Alberich in a dark alley!

Somewhere in Berun a certain Lieutenant Colonel shivered.

"Hel-"

Tanya once again covered Alberich's mouth. Seriously, why couldn't he stay calm when it was his turn to waltz the catwalk of national herodom? "I assume there's no ceremony for that either?"

"It would just be on paper, and he will get his dress uniform picture taken. Along with the announcement of the second silver wing assault medal of the year and his Second Name." He winked at them, "Your Second Name is a secret for now but you will find out soon, right before you go back to Rhine! There's also some other photoshoot requested by the propaganda department for you and Degurechaff too."

The photoshoot aside he was more concerned about this Second Name business, "A Second Name…"

Ludwig resolutely refused to meet his eyes, "You… were told by Major Einzbern, weren't you? About the name you will get."

I'm sorry for joking about this earlier, Beilschmidt…" The brunette stammered.

"That's not-"

He was also grumbling, "I don't want a Second Name anymore…" It was every mage's dream back in OCS. It was an even worthier honor than a medal because it was unique to the rewardee alone. "You're right about no one asking about your opinion before deciding it…" Ludwig covered his mouth, "You'd wonder if it was on purpose."

Tanya agreed, "These exquisite ironies one after the other can only be deliberate…" Now the idea of a clearly unfitting Second Name sounded like a punishment rather than reward.

These Second Names had somehow become more of a punishment, as anyone who know the two mages personally could attest. The names were terrible lies, and apparently the Mage Management Bureau had a terrible habit of picking names that clashed with the personalities of the rewarded mage.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **The next day**

Since Alberich showed no signs of brain damage according to the mage doctor who had examined him thoroughly, he was allowed to leave the hospital. He was warned to not overdo anything whilst recovering though. He was restricted to light duties, told to eat well, sleep well, be careful with his still bandaged limbs and was, under no circumstances, to indulge in the kind of heavy exercises he was known for.

The soulless military transit officer's quarters assigned to him only just qualified as a room but he couldn't stand the hospital's scent of antiseptic anymore. On the bright side, this was like getting a paid vacation until he was sent back to the Western Theater!

As he read a book about Hannibal that he had borrowed from Tanya, he couldn't help but sigh. "I wish I didn't have to go back to Rhine." While feeling sorry for his squadron fighting in the cordite-filled sky and the bloody, muddy, flea-infested trenches, he wasn't eager to go back to that underworld. "I'll pig myself out with warm food before I go back, then." He only had a week of medical leave, or rather just three days before that dreaded photoshoot he was obligated to attend.

"Hm? Speaking of photos, Tanya was also ordered to participate." She would be fed up with all those fake smiles and pomp of propaganda by now, but they still wanted pictures of the two. It would look good for both national heroes to appear together, but wouldn't it make the adult soldiers look bad if children were fighting harder than anyone else?

 **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Alberich snapped the book closed and stood up to open the door. "Yes?"

A military policeman in a crisp uniform saluted him, "Second Lieutenant Alberich Beilschmidt? A letter for you, Sir!" It was from the Office of the Inspector-General of Logistics, Tactical Training Department. He signed the receipt, confused about why should he get a letter from them. He could see no connection whatsoever.

"Thank you," the MP excused himself. Alberich closed the door and opened the envelope. Inside was an invitation from the Chief Engineer of the Elenium Lab to observe a trial of their experimental Operational Orb. Along with the letter was a pass to enter the restricted facility. "That's where Tanya works. So her boss is inviting me to watch her work?"

A strange invitation, but since he would be idle for the next three days it wasn't a bad idea to visit Tanya tomorrow. He could drop by her favorite cafe and buy something, she must be sick of potato and sausage by now. So Alberich dropped the letter on the cheap desk and took the pass for safe keeping.

He never noticed what was written on the back of letter.

 _Deus lo Vult._

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Sanctuary**

"So We will speak to the man in question and enlighten him with Our divine words…" Relayed a facet of Being X to his companions.

Being-X's main facet hummed, "I'd like to delay the blessing for now."

"Won't it be better if we apply this plan as soon as possible?" Asked Brahma, the deity with many hands.

A god with canine ears and one eye clasped, "Oh, is it about the believer led astray by the man we reincarnated as a little girl?"

He nodded, "Yes. The miracle should be witnessed perfectly and the stray lamb must see the truly impossible task of completing the project. Surely after witnessing our miracle, he will come to believe once again?"

If Tanya and Alberich were there they would have protested that their problem with faith ran much deeper than the possibility or impossibility of miracles.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Cruscos Airport**

He thought she would be happy to see him, but instead he felt wronged because she was looking at him as if she were a high school student whose parents showed up at school to bring their forgotten bento instead of letting them buy bread instead. That was a strange analogy, but that was what he felt. "I brought you ham sandwiches from that cafe you like." He offered the peace offering.

"You're coming just to watch a disaster."

He blinked owlishly at that. Why did Tanya sound like a hit and run victim getting pissed about people watching and posting about her on Twitter? "Eeh… When I told the MP at the gate that I was invited by Professor Adelheid von Schugel he gave a warning to be careful around some ' _walking disaster_ ,' but..."

"That's his nickname." Tanya confirmed promptly.

The chief engineer was nicknamed 'Walking Disaster?' That didn't sound reassuring. "He is a disaster to whom, exactly?"

Tanya's flippant reply to his inquiry was; "Everyone. But mainly me. I'd go with you to Rhine even if only to escape him."

If Tanya would rather come running to the frontlines than be around Schugel the man could possibly be more terrifying than Being X. "Eeh…"

"Back in the past I thought mad scientists were just fictional comedic devices. But the reality is..."

"The reality is?..." Alberich echoed.

"I hope you're not slandering my name in front of this other soldier, Lieutenant Degurechaff!" Howled someone from behind, startling both of them out of their wits. Alberich swore Tanya's pupils shrank as she called out the man's name. "Doctor Schugel?!"

Patting his thrumming heart he turned to see the man in question. He was a very tall man with broad shoulders and his hair was greying and wild. He had thick eyebrows like untamed grass and a very intricate looking monocle over one of his dark eyes. Alberich guessed those many lenses could rotate for convenient use when tinkering with an Operational orbs' small components. Frankly, while it was an ingenious design for efficiency he didn't think wearing that thing all the time was a good idea. It could ruin this man's eyesight.

"Professor Schugel?" He tried hesitantly, "I am Second Lieutenant Alberich Beilschmidt, thank you for inviting me to your facility."

"Don't thank him." Tanya rudely added from the side.

Usually Tanya wouldn't be rude to superiors even if she think they are incompetents; for Schugel to earn this much animosity meant he had crossed some sort of threshold. The scientist shared the same sentiment with Tanya, ordering her to do her job and ushered Alberich to an observation room. "Erm… if I may be so forward, Professor. I've been wondering what you need me for?" He asked once they arrived in a room with a clear view of the runway where Tanya was standing.

He cleared his throat, "You see… I found your thesis and I am very interested in how you laid out the theories of the most basic decoy spell. You're a very unorthodox mage, and very flexible in controlling your mana. Quite unlike the plain old brute force mages employed in the field, like your dear friend over there." He jerked his thumb at Tanya's general direction.

Actually, despite the similarities between 3D modelling and optical decoy spells, he preferred refining the mage knife and neural interference spells simply because explosions and loud noises offended his hypersensitive hearing. He hadn't been bothered with explosions on the TV back in his previous life but hearing them live was irritating to his ears - that was another reason why he hated the battlefield to the bone.

"I am flattered." Or so Alberich said, but inside he was confused on how his thesis could have landed in Schugel's hands. As far as he knew the Military only had two copies; one stored in MMB's archive and another that Major Einzbern had kept for personal use. Even if he knew that the OCS had typed a mimeograph stencil, not even a chief engineer should easily get his hands on it. ' _Something is off.'_

"So I wonder if you're interested in taking over Lieutenant Degurechaff's job, Lieutenant Beilschmidt? I think she is more interested in fighting on the front lines than contributing to science."

No, Tanya was interested in a peaceful life. "Erm…but I-"

"I considered your flexible use of mana, so I happened to develop a variation of my masterpiece that Lieutenant Degurechaff is testing!" He announced excitedly, before dangling an orb before his eyes. Unlike the one Tanya had told him about these cores weren't the same size. There was a trio of smaller cores in a triangular formation with a larger primary core in the centre. It definitely looked more like a fancy art piece than his MK-13. "In comparison of Type-95X, the principle is similar but Type-95ß. is a precision based orb, so instead of firepower I designed it more for flexible and precise mana manipulation."

It would be a lie if he said he wasn't tempted to have a Operational orb tailored to his needs. Any mage would be frustrated if they had to hold back and use the Operational orb delicately while fighting with their life on the line and he could very well imagine how early combat mages felt with their flimsy primitive orbs that couldn't handle even a common mage's mana.

However a device with ' _experimental'_ attached to its name just wasn't for him. "I am not sure if you noticed this in my file, Professor, but… I am not the most suitable test mage when it comes to Operational orbs because I-"

 **SLAM!**

"Schugel! Who gave you permission to drag Beilschmidt here?!"

The boy in question blinked owlishly, "Major Einzbern?"

The doctor, outraged at the interruption, shouted, "He isn't from your department!"

"Not yet!" Einzbern hollered back. "But he's my protege!"

"All the more reason he should get involved in this project! You should be proud! The Elenium Type-95 series is the epochal orb of this century!" He howled before shoving a thick stack of bonded paper titled 'Elenium: Type-95' at Alberich. "You will be pleased to be a part of history, I am sure."

Nope, he wasn't pleased at all. "Eh-"

"And Major, I told you to not come unannounced!"

The boy glanced at the arguing pair and then back to the papers in his hand. It seemed that due to both models only a bit different the doctor put both design in one paper.

"Lieutenant Degurechaff, you may begin now." Said an assistant into the wireless comms.

He walked closer to the full length window glass, letting Schugel argue with Einzbern in peace. "Hm, Tanya is just flying for this test?"

There didn't seem to be anything particularly interesting, so he started reading to understand what the big deal was with this new orb type. His eyes scrolled left and right as he read the first page. "The Elenium Type-95 is a revolutionary Operational orb built around the brand new concept of Orb Core Synchronization." That sounded interesting enough, but why did he suddenly feel like this was a familiar concept? Not from this world, but his past life? When was that? It was long ago… back in university?

The development of a next generational Orb involved data collection at the most basic level, with the goal of researching more advanced technologies. So this project was seen as a completely new concept, even though it was akin to simply adding more engines for horsepower. That didn't sound right, instead of another engine the extra core was more like…

An image of jovial man sitting with all sorts of spare computer parts surrounding him came to mind. His previous self asked something and held up four fingers then eight enthusiastically. The man laughed before shaking his head, tapping a rectangular metal box before correcting a misunderstanding.

"Wait-" His train of thought halted, his free hand rose to draw something in the air.

Schugel and Einzbern had stopped arguing and were watching Alberich wave his forefinger in the empty air, his eyes unfocused as he contemplated something.

"What is he doing?"

Einzbern chuckled. "Ah, Beilschmidt does that often when he is deep in thought." It was a funny habit, but usually the boy would come up with something brilliant afterward.

"Maybe he is contemplating the sheer genius of my masterpiece!"

Einzbern snorted, "You think so Doctor Schugel? I'd let you know, mana capacity wise there's no one better than Degurechaff and Beilschmidt in our newest batch of graduates. Their knowledge is also superior, due to their unique situation as mana powerhouse they have a better understanding of how an operational orb works than their peers."

The accelerated program meant a lot of course was cut off from OCS, and the first to be excluded were the lessons on how the technology of Operational Orbs worked. Of course their students still got the basic understanding about their orbs, but it leant more to the practical side rather than the theoretical. You didn't need to know the parts of a car to drive one. Alberich and Tanya were special cases due to their mana capacity, so they needed more in depth knowledge that would allow them to delicately control their orb.

"But as testing personnel…" Einzbern trailed off.

Schugel wasn't listening however as he was trying to wrestle the wireless comm from his assistant, "You should be able to get to 18000ft, Second Lieutenant Degurechaff!"

 _[Standard operating altitude for us mages is 6000ft, Doctor!]_

"Theoretically-"

Einzbern stared in disbelief. "Why did you just ask her to do?!"

Alberich was still off to his own world, and he walked towards the table where Schugel had left the Type-95ß. It looked more like delicately crafted jewelry rather than military equipment. And that was the problem. He experimentally probed the orb with his mana, and was shocked out of his wits when the orb greedily devoured his magic like a vacuum.

"GAH!" He jumped backward, as far as he could from the orb.

His yell attracted everyone's attention but he ignored them and rapidly flipped through the report file in his hand in haste. He was just ten pages in when he reached a conclusion.

" **What the hell is this defective piece of junk?!"** Alberich howled, his face became as red as his hair in anger.

"Lieute-" Schugel was about to call out but was silenced when the document was thrown right into his face and the spine hit him square on the nose.

 **WHAM!**

"My nose!"

* * *

 **Assaulting the Chief Engineer, ck-ck! Alberich... you're such a hot head at times!  
To be fair Ocean Sailor and I agree it's longtime coming for Schugel for being a magnificent jerk lmao  
BTW I just realized the OC is increasing so, I will introduce them shortly.  
-Einzbern is getting more and more appearance, he is so persistent like cockroach. Then again his character is meant to be overbearing as rebellious runaway noblemen. He is Erich's classmates, his batch is one of the best in Empire and the members hold important position in army which is why Erich and Elric have extensive connection in Imperial Army. He is the red oni to Erich's blue.  
-Ludwig is the bratty hot-head with competitive spirit, and he sees Alberich's talent in spell creation makes the boy his worthy rival. But post-Rhine invasion he is more in awe of his young friend as sees Alberich as leader and a wall to surpass. He is also from noble family.  
-Wolfgang is the cool older brother character, and the more mature partner to Ludwig. He has a very caring character, quiet and also a great cook. He come from commoner family and struggled to send money for his family.  
-Krause, the flight leader of 205th and Alberich's current partner. A family man with warmer personality than Schwarzkopf's and treat his subordinates like his sons.  
**

(^ﾉω^)ﾉ :｡･:*:･ﾟ' ,｡･:*:･ﾟ' Review please :･ﾟ' ,｡･:*:･ﾟ


	15. 14th Record

**This chapter takes VERY long to write and edit because... (⇀‸↼‶)  
it's all about technical meeting, in which I explain my version of more comprehensive reason why Elenium Type-95 is a failed design from Schugel. Just so you know, Gen von Shadow will never forgive me if my explanation is lacking... as he also help with explaining technical stuff to me in DIscord.**

 **Of course I troubled my editors, Braze Rancor and Ocean Sailor a lot. I think we were about to have a break down with this chapter because of all the technical jargon and making sure the conversation didn't get too confusing.**

 **Without further delay, please enjoy!**

 **ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ** **  
14th Record  
Ignorance and Illusion of Knowledge  
** **ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ**

Schugel's yelling was a familiar noise in the lab, but the sound of him moaning in pain was not. "Aah! Pain!" Blood splattered from his nose onto pristine floor of the lab.

"Doctor!" His assistant called out, "Your nose is bleeding!"

Einzbern was torn between feeling very proud of Alberich and horrified at his sudden act of violence. His protege looked like he was about to spit fire at Schugel. "Beilschmidt?"

Schugel covered his bleeding nose, "Lieutenant Beilschmidt! What is with you and Lieutenant Degurechaff calling my masterpieces junk?! Take it back!" His voice sounded high pitched and comical. Schugel was also more concerned about the insult to his work than his bleeding nostrils.

"Masterpiece?" Alberich trembled with barely suppressed rage, "Don't you mean that piece of junk?!"

"Why did you all say that?!" Screeched Schugel.

Einzbern almost burst into laughter since he couldn't help but agree with his student.

"And you strapped that bomb of a orb on-" He trailed off before freezing, "TANYA! YOU STRAPPED THAT UNSTABLE GARBAGE TO HER?!"

Alberich's enraged outburst surprised Einzbern contrary to his usual laidback behaviour. He wasn't inclined to stop Alberich anytime soon either, if his student get in trouble Einzbern didn't mind helping. After all, someone putting Schugel in his place had been a long time coming.

"Do you know how revolutionary quad-core synchronization is?" Schugel argued back, stuffing tissues stuffed his nostrils.

"Professor, if you want to set a world record for the most mana and maintenance intensive orb I will congratulate you for setting that revolutionary milestone." Alberich returned sarcastically, "However! If the goal of this project is mass production it's a pipe dream. Far from meeting mil-spec requirements, your orb can't be used at all!"

"It works in theory-"

"We can't use an orb that ' _theoretically'_ works at the front line! We will be the laughing stock of the world if your invention explodes in our face!" The Mage Corps would be ashamed to use such temperamental device on the field. Forget terrifying their enemies, instead they would have killed themselves and their comrades. "And before you blame us, may I remind you that in combat we have our hands full protecting ourselves from the enemy, so can you at least make sure your orb won't do our enemies' job for them?!"

Schugel fumed, "This test is exactly for that!"

"A designer shouldn't test his product on human before-"

BOOM!

"TANYA!" Alberich abandoned his argument with Schugel and ran like death was at his heels.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

Tanya fell from the sky, her parachute jerked left and right. In fiction it would be a comical sight to see someone parachuting down in a weird zigzag pattern, small 'hiccups' of explosions shaking them from side to side. In reality it was terrifying, especially since said victim was your friend and about 3500 feet above the ground. Alberich didn't wait for Tanya to descend fully, at 3000 feet he rushed to fetch her himself. Tanya looked panicked, gripping the defective orb tightly. Her sleeves were tattered and scorched and Alberich could see her hands were covered in burns from the heat the orb emitted.

Alberich helped her to take the orb from around her neck, the residual magical energy remaining inside the device letting off a late spiteful blast, hurting his own fingers.

"Shitty thing!" No wonder Tanya had trouble using her backup orb, this thing was soaking up her mana like a sponge and there was serious latency on its responsiveness.

Alberich threw it away from them, but since it was valuable military property he suspended the still scorching orb by its chain with telekinesis, which prevented the orb from reacting to his mana. Their burns needed immediate attention so after getting a good grip on his friend he cut the straps of her parachute and descended quickly, keeping themselves far from the Type-95's small explosions.

"Are you alright, Tanya?" Alberich asked as soon as they touched the ground. He winced at the sight of their arms, he just had his bullet wounds healed damn it!

"No." Was her flat rely, "Al, the survival rate in this place is lower than the front line."

No wonder she was so vexed, this must be Being X screwing with her again. What was the chance of landing the most deadly job in the rear? "Yes, I can see that." At least you can prepare for the enemies attacks, you can't prepare for being suddenly exploded by a piece of temperamental equipment. "Tanya… this _thing_ is one of the worst failed design I have seen, and I have seen people selling camo golf ball so it's quite an achievement."

Tanya stared at him in disbelief. Why would anyone camouflage a ball designed to be used on grass? Well, at least it didn't hurt anyone apart from how much of a pain it was to look for such a thing in the rough... "You're the designer… so you talk to that madman. I've given up trying to talk sense into him." Tanya growled, "I'm writing my transfer request today… I almost got scattered across the base." She'd had enough.

Alberich laughed mirthlessly at that, "I'm surprised you endured this long…" But the letter could wait. "Let's go to the infirmary, you need those hands treated."

"Lieutenant Degurechaff! You failed again! Why can't you make-"

Alberich never let him finish, "Your useless ' _masterpiece'_ is the failed design of this century is why, Doctor Schugel. We're going to the medical office. We can talk about it later..."

Tanya was very pleased to see Schugel gaping like a loon at Alberich's suggestion.

Schugel unfortunately didn't take the hint that Alberich and Tanya wanted to be left alone to nurse their wounds and followed them like the madman he was to the infirmary. He wanted an answer, and he wanted it now. Einzbern was right behind him, hoping and failing to convince the scientist to leave his former students alone.

It was fascinating to watch Schugel be ignored by both all the way to medical office, Once there, the medic in charge looked like he wanted to ask Schugel to leave, but since he was the chief engineer and the man's superior he didn't.

"It works in theory! So I ask you two, why can't you make it work properly?!"

It was amazing how talented Schugel was in lighting the laidback Alberich up like a Chinese firecracker. "Since you insist, Doctor… why don't you sit down over there and I will demonstrate it to you right now." He sounded very calm and polite, but Einzbern could almost hear the promised retribution in his voice.

Schugel, who had at last got a response from the the boy quickly sat down on the spare chair beside the one occupied by the medic. "Now what, Second Lieutenant Beilschmidt?"

Applying cream on the burn on his hand he said, "I will explain our 'human error' as you call it, Professor." The redhead smiled benignly, "It's a simple exercise, turn your right foot slowly in a clockwise circle."

That earned a confused look from everyone in the room but Schugel just scoffed before rotating his right foot as instructed. "I can't see what the point of this is."

"Just keep going, Professor." Alberich then asked for a piece of paper and pen from the medic and placed it on the table next to Schugel. "Please draw a counter clockwise spiral on this paper, as smooth as possible."

Schugel scoffed, as an engineer he had a very steady hand so this would be easy. "Hm?" However, neither as his foot and hand moved in correctly no matter how hard he tried. Either his foot jerked involuntarily, or his hand didn't move steadily and maked an uneven line.

Then Alberich gave an ultimatum, pointing at Schugel's face. "Every time you stop or make a mistake in this exercise I will cast a very small bombardment spell on you."

The adults in the room were dismayed by his deadly serious delivery. "Beilschmidt, that's unreasonable." Out of curiosity Einzbern had tried it too and he found that his body wasn't listening to this simple command. "It's very hard."

"Doctor Schugel asks why we mages keep making errors in his experiment." Alberich answered in an even tone. "I gave him his answer… it's fair if I make sure the situation is replicated perfectly. An explosion to the face for every error you make..."

Schugel wasn't impressed, "Lieutenant Beilschmidt! This didn't answer my question at all, and it's unprofessional to retaliate against your superior!"

"I follow orders, Sir… and it's also unprofessional to put the blame on your test personnel when the problem lies with your design in the first place." Alberich returned smoothly.

The medic who had been quiet because he didn't want to get involved frowned, "Erm… this exercise, isn't it for training human body to multitask?"

Alberich smirked, He started this test in the infirmary with the hope that the medic would contribute to the discussion. "Doctor, if you could help us, please explain to the professor why this exercise is very difficult." He rose from his seat. "I will be in Tanya's room, writing the report you asked for, Professor."

Tanya huffed, before following Alberich out of the room. The adults left behind looked at the medic inquiringly, and the poor man began sweating bullets. "Well… basically, the reason why this seemingly simple task is difficult is because of the way our brain handles and coordinates movement.."

By the end of lengthy explanation from the medic about how the motor cortex and nerve nerve clusters worked, the mage and scientist had different reactions. Einzbern was once again reminded about why he chose Alberich as his protege. It never occurred to him that Alberich knew something he probably shouldn't. Schugel on the other hand was struck by despair stronger than ever as he came see with clarity how that his project couldn't be completed this century.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Imperial Office of the Inspector General of Logistics  
Technological Research Branch**

It was without a doubt their superior magical technology that had raised the Empire's military might to new heights in the last decade, and Schugel was a pioneer of magical engineering that contributed greatly to their Fatherland. However they weren't blind at the sad fact that Schugel wasn't someone they wanted to trust with the future of magical science if they could help it. If one wanted to be polite they would call Schugel an eccentric man, but if they described the scientist bluntly he was a terrible human being whose genius was his sole redeeming point.

So it was with a heavy heart that the Training Department tolerated Research and Development's unreasonable demands for subjects to be Schugel's playthings. They even subjected ' _The Argent'_ to the same fate and rejected her informal request to change posting for a good reason; no one else was available to take her job. However, on the other hand it was made clear by the Tactical Training department and the upper brass that this young, talented mage was loaned with a condition. They could put her to work, but she had to be _returned_ in one piece (and alive) at the end.

They had foreseen that the Tactical Training Department would lose patience with them and protest, so they weren't surprised to see Major Einzbern attending this meeting. It was a surprise to see that not only had they received a formal request of transfer from Second Lieutenant Degurechaff but also a report from Second Lieutenant Alberich Beilschmidt regarding the Elenium Type-95.

Degurechaff's report was reviewing why the Elenium Type-95 was impractical: No operational margin for error. The danger of using an oxygen tank in combination with the orb at high altitudes had significant risk of self-destruction. There were many other unreasonable demands the orb required to be fulfilled when in use. In conclusion; it wasn't an orb any sane mage would want to carry with them into battle.

The writer of the Type 95 experiment report showed adept analytical ability, giving the reader the feeling that the author was a veteran in this academic field. Some of the people within the department were surprised by this, thinking that it wasn't content that a ten-year old could write. A few even suspected that the report wasn't written by her at all.

 _[Casting greater numbers of spells simultaneously, a dramatic increase in range and power... These are all excellent improvements, but if the standard operational time is reduced to zero then there's no point in using it.]_ Was the conclusion of her report.

The theory that she hadn't actually written it defeated by the other concise report written by another ten year old. Second Lieutenant Beilschmidt's document outright explained why the four core design was a failure. It was clear to everyone since the very beginning that the miniaturization of cores made the orb less durable and more unstable. This point was supported Second Lieutenant Degurechaff's findings.

Beilschmidt also mentioned that the choice of material was unwise. If Professor Schugel had to make the core smaller, it was his opinion the material had to be _at least_ three times more robust and less heat conductive.

"With our metallurgy engineers still developing better materials for orbs and other weapons, it might be possible to find a better alternative…" An officer uttered as his hand reached out to grab his dose of nicotine from the package in his pocket.

The others soon followed, as they had a feeling they would need cigar to swallow another bad news from Elinium lab. As if fighting two front wasn't already stressing enough as other departments holler at them for not developing something better to justify massive budget allocated to theirs.

"But not soon enough to help improve the durability of the Type-95." In fact they had been attempting to develop a better material but the latest composite metals were still a very experimental technology at the moment.

"Material aside, Second Lieutenant Beilschmidt also brings up another two fatal factors that render this technology unfeasible at this point."

Major Einzbern smiled bitterly, "As Professor Schugel keeps telling us, the human factor causes his masterpiece to become impractical. And he is quite right."

Beilschmidt explained that the scientist was wrong but not in the way he expected. It was the way mage's and even normal human's brains were wired. Major Einzbern also included the report he had received from the medical specialist that explained why mages had a hard time using the Elenium Type-95.

A magic circuit wasn't so different from a nerve. They were different passages in the human body but as both were controlled by the brain the way they worked was similar in principle. Imperial mages were all given the same operating orb at their recruitment, and even if they were given new model all of them operated with a single core. Generally, mages had no problem getting used to operating their computation orb after a bit of training, but putting in four times the effort to control an Elenium Type-95 was beyond most. This was something all of them knew already.

"The Study Of Magic Circuits is still a topic not fully explored as a medical field but… it's almost confirmed that they work in the same way as a nerve does…" Einzbern tapped his temple, "So magic activation through training and repetition became a second nature. Thus to us controlling four orbs in sync an almost impossible task when we're used to single core orb."

They looked at each other, "Isn't that why Professor Schugel chose Second Lieutenant Degurechaff?" When they reviewed back the process of selection, Schugel wrote something that sounded very unreasonable, something which only made sense to them now.

 _[If she had not gotten used to the current single orb model, she would not have issues operating the four orb prototype.]_

Children were more flexible in their thinking than adults, and even someone who had matured early like Degurechaff would have an easier time adapting to four core technology than an adult mage. It made them groan when they realized that the sole candidate for this project would be Beilschmidt if Degurechaff left, but the same boy was the one reporting why this project was a bad idea. It would be unreasonable to make him take her post.

Another officer asked for another cup of coffee, flagging the adjutant standing on the back to bring him some. They had so much hope on this project but it seemed they were going to run to a complete dead end for it tonight.

"While it's not impossible to get used to operating four orbs, it just requires practice - but as we all know the Elenium Type-95 explodes at the smallest mistake…" The personnel had to be extremely lucky and durable to practice with an orb that could literally explode in their face.

They groaned at that. Even if there was an abundance of mages like the two prodigies it wasn't an option to throw their mage personnel away on this risky endeavor.

"This leads us to an even more basic problem in Professor Schugel's four orbs synchronization concept..." Einzbern had a pained smile as he began explaining. If this was true then all the blood, sweat and tears spent on this project was for nothing.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Tanya's room**

It was a mystery to Tanya why Alberich refused to let her see his finished report, but after she cornered him the boy gave in as usual. Then Tanya found out why. She was enraged, and rightly so considering Alberich just told her that the reason he called the Type-95 a failed design started from the concept of four cores meant four times the power. Surprise-surprise, apparently computing technology of her past world had proven Schugel wrong.

"Since you liked FPS games in your past life." Tanya had once mentioned that Being X had accused her of enjoying killing people because of her gaming hobby. "I thought you would know."

"Al, I bought my gaming laptop like… twelve years ago and I don't ask for details." It was an entertaining way to vent stress; she wasn't an avid gamer who would worry about the specs of her computer.

He sighed, "Haaa, basically… for gaming and architectural purpose the PCs or laptops we used had heavier processing requirements than what was needed for web browsing or office programs. So we required a better processor to meet our needs and it was a common misunderstanding to think that we just needed a faster processor with more cores."

"More cores?"

"In the case of both computer cores and operational orbs, it's a little more complicated than that." Alberich recalled his first experience building a custom CPU for work. "There is only one processor chip. That chip can have one, two, four..." He paused, thinking. "Last time I updated mine it was up to eight I think?" It was eleven years ago, so he didn't remember. "Each core is the part of the chip that does the processing work. Essentially, each core is a central processing unit…"

Tanya frowned, "And… why is the concept of 'More cores equals Better Processing' wrong?"

"If a processor chip has more cores there are several problems." He raised three fingers, "If you compare quad core to double core you'd expect the quad core to have twice the processing speed but that's not the case. Speed is mostly determined by the clock speed of each core so newer versions of dual core technology can outperform quad core technology."

"Quality over quantity then…"

Alberich nodded, "In this case, miniaturizing the cores to such a degree makes me question if all the cores working together even equals the theoretical output of four conventional ones."He went on, "Other problems are energy consumption, emitted heat and parallel processing issues."

Tanya's groaned, "Why do they all sound very familiar?"

Alberich laughed at that, "It's why I knew right away. It's a very common problem for people who work with Architecture programs like me."

And why Tanya didn't notice. "About parallel processing… you mean casting multiple spells simultaneously? It's one of the few benefits of this Italian Red Devil, and now it's a problem too?!"

"Like I said, Professor Schugel isn't wrong about human error being a problem with this project…" However it wasn't recklessness or a lack of concentration like he thought. "If we liken an Operation orb to a processing chip in a computer and the world to data, a spell is a program while we mages are the motherboard that lets it all work together."

Tanya frowned, "Magic works when mages compile the spell code in our heads and then execute the program with the orb."

"Yes… the problem with this is the extension of the previous one: How mages are used to wiring their circuits to work only one core." Alberich cleared his throat, "Like computers, for task distribution we're the 'master core' that delegates to subordinate cores which is inside Elenium-95 on what task they should do. However since we are used to work with a single core… it means all subordinates will have no choice but to do all the tasks themselves and since we don't tell the cores it was done elsewhere, every spell will be computate _everything_ 4 times before release. And whichever finishes last will override the first 3 result and thus making every spell…"

"Explode or fail…" She finished, her lips let out a frustrated groan, "You mean… the spells we learnt aren't developed to take advantage of multiple cores in the first place?"

"We can certainly rewrite the spells to be multi-threaded…" Alberich pointed out, "You certainly did that unconsciously, which is why you were more successful than the previous test personnel. But it also means you can't lose focus for a second and the mana drain is enormous."

She clicked her tongue, "I don't like how you call it human error… It makes it sound like Schugel is right."

"To be fair that man is indeed a genius, an accomplished scientist." Tanya wanted to protest, as all Schugel had accomplished was blowing her sky-high. "But… as a designer he is a trash."

Tanya snickered at that, "How harsh… so in your professional opinion as an interior designer to a weapons designer?"

Alberich scoffed, "It's the truth… insisting his design works in theory blinds him from the obvious solution. He is a genius, he could have found it himself if he wasn't so stubborn-" He stopped. Tanya's intense glare was becoming scary. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Alberich, what do you mean 'the obvious solution?!'"

"It's not a solution perse-"

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Imperial Office of the Inspector General of Logistics  
Technological Research Branch**

Hearing the report from his junior, the Colonel couldn't help but sigh as he reread the paper in front of him. His fingers rested on his temple, and as he leaned down to read further it brushed against the scars of battles years officer felt so old all of a sudden. How long ago had he had left the battlefield to work in the rear? Yet a fresh, front line officer could see what he couldn't when it came to technology development.

It wasn't a startling revelation to know that Schugel hadn't thought about the operator at all while pursuing superior technology with his Type-95. It sounded just like him. However, experimental prototype or not, there were limits. This was like designing a very beautiful and elaborate dress for a lady but never bothering to take measurements for anyone to wear it. Degurechaff was right to call the Elenium Type-95 an art piece, as it had about the same battlefield applications as a painting did.

"Major Einzbern… you have a very interesting student." He had a distinctive scar on his forehead he got from a stint in Norden years ago, he was Mage Colonel Adalger Blatt. He was Einzbern's senior back in OCS and the War College. The colonel also held a high position in the Logistics Department and had the ear of General Rudersdorf.

Einzbern had been taking Alberich around Tactical Training department since he was still in OCS, so most of Einzbern's colleagues had known about the boy. Then again, having a pair of talented mage volunteering at seven years old and ranked in top five of their class was bound to draw attention. Tanya had drawn even more attention than Alberich because she had been the ideal soldier since her days in OCS, it was only recently that the boy proved he was in the same league as his childhood friend and not destined for desk job as a technical magic officer.

"I suppose… Second Lieutenant Degurechaff's report and request tells us her patience has its limits, and Second Lieutenant Beilschmidt is less than pleased about his friend's posting." They were talented soldiers, but the technological research personnel could see that in the end they were still children. If they interpreted this correctly, the boy was unhappy that they were being mean to his friend. It was adorable that the two young soldiers could be both childlike and professional about it at the same time.

"So there's no other choice than to suspend this project, correct?"

Einzbern cleared his throat, "Well, in light of your great loss…" Of time, money and blood. "Second Lieutenant Beilschmidt, under my supervision, has proposed a solution to cut our losses."

It was strange to even consider the opinion of an officer with one of the lowest ranks in the army, but they had been listening to a pair of ten year old children all day and they hadn't regretted it yet. "Go on."

"Basically… instead of focusing on quad core technology, we should proceed one step at a time and researching dual cores instead for now." That was a very reasonable proposal. "Once dual core become the standard in our mage corps we can then move on to triple and then quad core. Hopefully by then the mages in our army should have become well adapted to multiple cores and our metallurgists might have made a breakthrough to solve the durability problem with the Elenium Type-95."

Silence fell in the room as they digested the ten year's old suggestion: Bite off only what you can chew. A very simple solution they could have thought by themselves if Schugel's proposal of quad core synchronization hadn't blinded them.

While they had been hoing for a genius solution from the two _wunderkind,_ to their embarrassment they'd had to settle for the obvious one that anyone could have recommended.

"Will Schugel agree?" The R&D officer wondered, tapping the ash formed on the tip of his cigarette into the ashtray. He knew very well how temperamental Schugel could be.

"Does he even have a choice?" As pointed by the reports, Schugel should have been smart enough to cut his losses after his testing personnel died one after another. And yet a man of his intelligence had insisted that the fault wasn't his design and had ended up wasting their resource.

"How long it will take until we get back to developing quad core technology? The colonel scratched his scar in thought.

"We can't deny this proposal has merits."

Colonel Blatt exhaled tiredly. There was no more point arguing about this any further. "It's at least makes more sense and can be implemented sooner." He clasped his fingers together, "Quad core technology is still premature, so we shall put it on hold and prepare the dual core project. If it's not as impossible as quad core was there should be another lab that will love to take up the challenge."

That was their ultimatum. If Schugel didn't obey them they would just take this business elsewhere. If Tanya was in the room she would have applauded them.

 **┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴**

 **Back in Tanya's room**

"I can't believe you gave him a way out." Tanya deadpanned, "You can't possibly feel bad for trashing his project, right?"

Alberich shifted his eyes, "Well… I feel sorry for his creation. It could be something great, completely abandoning it would be a shame!"

Tanya was sure he felt a little bit bad but at least his reason was acceptable. "I see…"

"Not to mention…" Alberich's eyes became watery. "I am sick of having our Orbs break down on us and being told we have to hold back all the time!"

Tanya fell silent at that, "Aah…" She was bitter about that too, but obviously Alberich felt stronger about it due to the extensive spell repertoire he had that he was unable to exploit. It also didn't help they had to hold back while fighting for their lives.

"I can't help but take advantage of the desperation the R&D Department will feel when they realise their project is a bust."

That was surprisingly cunning of him. "I see…" Tanya also came to a startling revelation, which made her felt more than a little smug. ' _I've corrupted him…'_

The old Alberich would never consider taking advantage of someone else's misery. Being-X must be pissed and his suffering was Tanya's joy.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"Nothing!"

"Well, I have to warn you that kind of psychotic smile might get you sent to mental hospital."

"Hey!"

The two adults in children's bodies were completely oblivious to what Being X had concocted for them in the realm beyond perception. The day before the rules of the Game changed was quite a peaceful one, one they enjoyed while it lasted.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Hansaviertel Cafe, Berun**

This cafe served a very tasty baumkuchen, a layered cake baked over an open flame on a spit, thinly glazed with apricot jam and covered in icing sugar. The old style- though technically modern- cafe had a very pleasant atmosphere, with a parqueted floor and walls full of the matron's embroidery and traditional knick knacks decorating the shelves.

He had given up becoming an interior designer in this era- _it wasn't a meritocracy in that part of the Empire so someone without any connections to the nobility won't get anywhere-_ but he could still enjoy a cosy place like this. Alberich became a designer because his passion was drawing, so he wasn't to disheartened that he couldn't earn money with it. Even if it was just a hobby he was happy enough as long as he could find the time to do it.

Alberich glanced at the clock on the wall, "Major Einzbern is late as usual." If it wasn't work related his instructor was not a punctual person. He was one of those rare Imperial citizen who was born without their sense of punctuality. "Hm… this cake is so good." Then again, since Major Einzbern was treating him Alberich didn't hesitate to help himself to an extra slice before the older mage could arrive. Not to mention this sweetness would be short-lived due to the war. Remembering this made him cry a little inside.

Sound of a chair's legs sliding across the parqueted floor alerted that someone had taken the seat across him. But much to his surprise it wasn't Einzbern but Schugel who had sat down. Alberich swallowed his cake slowly, if he had noticed the man any later he would have choked on his food.

"Professor Schugel…"

What did this man want… huh?! This man must be holding grudge for what he had done. Alberich's eyes began to swim at the possibility of this man coming to him with evil intent.

' _Calm down Alberich, remember- you're a Mage! A simple mad scientist can't hurt you.'_ Not when he wasn't under this man's authority, and he could easily disable this man with his neural interference spell.

If Schugel was any normal man he would have wondered why the boy in front of him wore a face of someone both ready for combat and ready to flee for their life. But he wasn't an attentive individual where humanity was concerned. "Guten morgen, Lieutenant Beilschmidt…"

"Guten Morgen." He returned quickly. "Are you here to see me, Professor?"

Schugel exhaled softly, "Yes, I have a question for you."

"A question?" He echoed in confusion, not letting his guard down, his whole body ready to spring to the nearest exit. "Is it about my report? I believe you would have gotten your own copy from the R&D manager, Professor." Was it just him or was this man acting oddly this morning? He couldn't recall from his short time knowing this scientist if he had ever seen Schugel behaving remotely normal.

He smiled at the red haired mage, and Alberich leaned back in his seat warily. "A simple one for a smart boy such as you…"

Okay, Schugel was totally weird and he was reasonably freaked out by this calm and serene Schugel. "Uh huh…"

"Where did I fail when designing the Elenium Type-95?"

Alberich's eyes narrowed at that, "Professor Schugel… you're a man with intelligence, I don't think you need a child like me with nonexistent knowledge about magical engineering to point it out to you." Alberich knew the basics of Operating orb technology so he could use his more efficiently, but that didn't mean he could design one. This man was full of pride to the point that even after the orb he designed was stained with blood he still valued it and his pride as a designer above all else.

"Just entertain this old man, Lieutenant."

The young boy sighed in a resigned manner, if he didn't give in this man was going to stay here all day. "Professor, do you know what the first thing the human race designed was?"

Schugel nodded, "I believe it was, in order; a weapon made of obsidian, clothes fashioned from animal skin… and pottery?"

Alberich had thought that Schugel would say he didn't bother learning what humans did when they were just slightly smarter than monkeys. "That's true… humans designed tools to help them in the primitive era to overcome their limitations." He raised his fingers, clipped short and clean. "Humans don't have claws or fangs to hunt and tear their prey apart, that was why primitive humans needed tools."

Schugel smiled at that. "Hm…"

In the simplest sense, an orb was just another evolution of those weapons made of stone. "You should design your orb in the same way, Professor Schugel… It's a tool for human use to overcome their limits." Alberich stated sternly, "Your orb, however, tests our limits… because you as the creator see humans as a component to make your invention complete. You don't see us- Mages- as the user."

Human limitations should be the formula any design is based on, even something as simple as the chairs they sat on. ' _The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge,_ ' said an american historian. In Alberich's opinion, for Schugel ignorance and the illusion of knowledge were one and the same.

Schugel's smile became strained at that, "Ergonomics… right?"

Ergonomics, an applied science concerned with designing and arranging things for use so that the people and things interacted most efficiently and safely. Also called… human engineering or Human Factors.

"...What a shame…" This man could have reached greater heights if he was not blind to this simple fact. However, perhaps it was his madness that enabled him to think outside of the box of human reasoning and common sense. Ironically he was also confined in a box of his own making.

"Ignorance of the most basic factors cost me so much blood, sweat and tears."

Okay, he was weird but it was terrifyingly worrying to see Schugel as calm as a monk.

"But… There's no point regretting my failure."

' _Considering your orb killed so many test personnel, you should regret some more_.' Alberich thought but didn't say.

"But failure is but a path to success."

Did that mean he was going to follow the logical solution Alberich proposed?

"Because it was impossible in this lifetime by human hands."

Alberich blinked at that, "Professor Schugel, are you alright?" He had never asked, but a lunatic scientist like Schugel was usually an atheist who saw science as his God. If he believed in God surely he would have stopped developing that mage killing orb? As flimsy as Being-X could be, _You shall not kill_ was still on the list of Ten Commandments.

Professor Schugel rose from his seat and walked around their table so he was standing behind Alberich. "Better than ever, Lieutenant. I have seen the light." He patted Alberich's shoulder lightly. "Thank you for enlightening me, Lieutenant Beilschmidt. May God be with you."

Alberich stood up, "Wait! Professor Schugel you-" The mage followed the man who was on his way out, hand raised to reach out for the scientist.

Schugel was already by the door when it swung open, almost knocking into the inventor. But he paid it no heed and politely gave way to the new guest of the cafe, a very bewildered Elric von Einzbern, who for the first time was treated very benignly by Schugel.

"Major, good day to you." And then Schugel was out of sight. Since when could a scientist flee so fast?

He turned to Alberich. "Beilschmidt, did that man bother you?"

A bit, but that wasn't the point. "He acted very strange, that's all."

Einzbern stared at him in disbelief, "He is _always_ strange."

"He was acting amicably just now." Alberich elaborated.

The major blinked owlishly at that before concluding, "Alright, that _is_ weird for Schugel, indeed." He coughed, "Anyway, because I'm late… we should go now. If you haven't finished yet you can get take out! My treat, of course!"

The prospect of free sweets made Alberich forget all about Schugel. ' _Free food~'_

Schugel, meanwhile, had blended with the citizens milling around the busy capital of Berun. Smiling to himself he took out a crude looking Forkerr orb shaped like a pocket watch. It was nowhere near the Weaponised Personification of Aestheticism his Elenium was, but the small scrap of paper within the case had the proof he needed written upon it.

' _Deus lo Vult'_ '

The scientist grinned to himself as he closed the cover with a snap.

God had willed his masterpiece to succeed.

* * *

 **Interesting TRIVIA  
* ******Hansaviertel exist in Berlin ^^ for real.  
*Elenium is a name of a fantasy novel, where magic is an act of asking Gods to perform miracle for the worshiper. Another interesting reference from Carlo Zen ^^  
****

 ** **I feel like I have to apologize to give a chapter full of technical explanation, but on the flip side the next chapter will END Elenium arc!  
And Adalgar Blatt is a manga original character from Tojo Chika-sensei, I am sure you have seen the guy around Rudersdorf in Norden.  
Illustration of this story is up in my deviantart page and Pixiv, so make sure to check them out ^^ They're also published together in AO3 ****

****The last few days had been hard, especially since I was torn between working again or going to get my Master degree on my parent's urging. I decide to work, yay for independence! Wish me luck with my permit to be accepted in Singapore!****

 ** **ALSO... BIG SURPRISE****

 ** **Tojo Chika is... A GUY!****

 **Review Please!**


	16. 15th Record

**ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ** **  
15th Record  
God Wills Us a Cheat Item  
** **ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ**

 **Cruscos Airport**

Tanya was overjoyed to receive the letter that said that the project was suspended until further notice and that she would receive her next assignment in two or three weeks time. She was, however, a bit skeptical about Schugel's suspension since the upper brass of R&D and Logistics were definitely considering Alberich's proposal.

Well, with the hefty loss they'd suffered from the failed quad core orb project Tanya couldn't blame them for trying to salvage the data by aiming for the more practical dual core. At least R&D would get something out of it, and best of all she and Al received credit for their reports and didn't need to get any further involved.

"I'm still annoyed Al got through Schugel in just one day after I tried for weeks." Then again Schugel was dead set on human error being behind the delay of his project and Tanya couldn't convince him otherwise. Instead, Alberich had pointed out to Schugel what human error really meant for his project. "I suppose Schugel finally got a clue because Al didn't contradict him in that matter."

Though yesterday afternoon when she and Alberich had run into Schugel on that way back to the dorms, Tanya had sworn that Schugel has been staring contemplatively at her friend even though he'd received only contempt in return. Well, if Alberich was turning into a good Schugel repellant she wouldn't hesitate to use her childhood friend to keep Schugel away.

* * *

 **Logistic Warehouse 03**

"Achoo!"

Einzbern glanced worriedly at his protege who was wiping his nose with a handkerchief, "You getting a cold?"

"No, Sir…" Alberich sniffed, "Maybe someone is talking about me?"

Einzbern blinked owlishly at that. How was sneezing connected to being talked about by someone? Then again this was not the first time his student had said something out of the blue and Einzbern tended to ignore Alberich's quirks. Besides, kids play make believe all the time. His niece had once decided that anything not in shadow was lava and starting hopping around the manor like a rabbit the whole day.

"So, anything in here that catch your fancy?"

Alberich beamed, "Actually I don't know much about weapons beyond what was taught to us in OCS… even if you offer to give me a new rifle I don't know how to choose." Then he added somberly, "I just want one that fits my size."

While this was simple favoritism, all things considered this was actually something he should have done long ago for the boy before the young mage was deployed to Rhine. Alberich was averse to rifles for a good reason: the first time he fired one he dislocated his shoulder. Einzbern wasn't initially concerned about this issue before because he thought that after one year or so at the border Alberich would have been assigned to the Training Department and wouldn't need a rifle.

It was never in his calculations that war would break out and Alberich would be stuck at the frontlines so he would need a weapon befitting his size. So when Colonel Blatt asked if he needed a favor Einzbern remembered his student's issue. He didn't have a rifle that fitted him, and even though he was an expert mage that could shoot spells from his fingertips a rifle would make his job easier. Other poor soldiers would be told to just put up with it but Alberich and Tanya were War Heroes with War Merits. The Logistics Department could certainly spare them rifles that fit their size even if it wasn't standard issue.

"Will Tanya get hers too?"

"Of course." Einzbern was feeling quite guilty for neglecting this issue, if not for this favor from his senior he would have bought Alberich something from his own pocket. Seeing Alberich entertaining himself looking at weapons made Einzbern both proud and sad. ' _A kid shouldn't look so serious when considering his weapon of choice.'_ It was too late for that though, his protege was on the fast track to being a pillar of their army so he couldn't quit now.

"Is that him?"

Einzbern glanced to the side where Blatt was standing, "Ah, you're here Colonel Blatt… and yes, that's Beilschmidt."

Colonel Adalger Blatt assessed the young boy who had considering look at a C96 mauser hanging on the wall. "He is tinier than I expected." He'd imagined a taller boy with more muscle but Alberich Beilschmidt, the newest national hero after the equally young Tanya Degurechaff, was just as petite as the girl. The boy also had a very delicate face, if not for his haircut you could mistake him for a girl. Then again, the rule of shoulder-length hair for underaged female soldiers existed because of this.

"Yes, his classmates had a hell of a time trying to hit him." Alberich wasn't as swift as Tanya, but he was definitely more slippery. "Anyway, thank you again for allowing this."

Blatt shook his head, "Einzbern… I actually very disappointed that no one in OCS told us both Beilschmidt and Degurechaff couldn't use the standard issue rifle."

He smiled sheepishly at that, "To be fair, we thought that would be seen as favoritism and would be looked upon unfavorably."

"Indeed, my department can't give every soldier in the field a weapon made just for them.' Blatt admitted, "However…" His voice lowered an octaves he trailed off. "What would people say if they knew we let two of Empire's youngest heroes go to the foremost lines of war equipped with weapons that were not only ill suited for them but could also possibly injure them." The report about the accident in their first marksmanship training made Blatt's heart ache.

Silence fell between them as they let the implication sink in, "That…"

"Would be a scandal." Blatt finished. "I can't believe both of them fought without rifles and survived." He had read reports from their fights. Both used spells as their main weapon and were handicapped with the inability to aim easily at long range because they didn't use rifles. There was the Guidance spell, but at close range it was pointless because the enemy would shoot you full of holes while you cast it.

"On the upside, they mastered firing spells barehanded very quickly…"

"Rifles are a crutch for a mage in the first place…" It was easy to focus an offensive spell on a rifle, but firing a spell without it took a lot of concentration and control. Which was why the skill to use offensive spells without a rifle was the mark of a superior mage. "I'd like to talk to him, is that fine?"

Einzbern nodded, "The boy is an introvert, as long as you don't act overly familiar it would be fine." Alberich had an aversion for overbearing people, Tanya was a rare exception. When Einzbern found Alberich with Schugel, he swore the boy was about to bolt to the nearest exit. He was also positive that Alberich hated being touched, a quirk Einzbern feared was from abuse. But after further investigation his orphanage was clean. Just one of many unexplainable quirks of his protege, Einzbern supposed.

"That… doesn't fit the image I had of a boy who told his comrades to flee and faced one and half squadrons by himself and came out at the top." Blatt had imagined a well meaning boisterous child with high patriotic spirit, someone with the personality to match the Second Name the Mage Management Bureau was about to give the boy in few days.

Einzbern himself could hardly believe that Alberich had done that. The boy would work hard to save his comrades of course, but that kind of heroic stunt just wasn't like him. Anyone in his class who had any experience sparring or watching the boy fight would think the same. ' _If it's Beilschmidt, shouldn't he fake something and flee while the enemies are confused?'_ would be the general opinion amongst the cadets from his batch, which was a 180 degree turn where his counterpart was concerned as everyone would say ' _As expected of Degurechaff'_ for her heroic exploit.

Of course, Einzbern would never ask Alberich why. After all it would be the same as asking why Alberich had chopped the enemies to bits and piled them up. He was pretty sure it was by sheer luck or coincidence. None of the conversations Einzbern had with Rerugen had brought up any accusation of being Alberich being psychotic so there wasn't a reason to pursue it further.

Beilschmidt noticed the newcomer and rushed to greet Blatt. "I am Mage Lieutenant Alberich Beilschmidt." He saluted, "Thank you for the opportunity today, Sir."

Blatt took Einzbern's warning to heart and treated the boy the same way he would treat a talented subordinate. "It's a pleasure. As you will fight at the front line for our Empire this is the least I can do. So, is there anything that catches your fancy?"

He looked sheepish, "There are a lot of good choices here, I am not sure how to decide… especially since I don't know much about them."

Blatt cupped his chin, "Then… just tell me your preference and I will recommend a weapon that fits."

The young mage looked flustered by the generous offer, "Thank you very much, Sir! If you don't mind me troubling you."

Einzbern was right, the boy could be overly polite when he was nervous. "It's no trouble, so what do you want then?"

He glanced nervously at the display cases, "Because of my small build, it would be preferable if the size is smaller than the standard issued rifle, lighter…" He trailed off, "Erm… my accuracy isn't very good so I prefer using a weapon with a higher rate of fire, and I tend to favor the mage knife so a rifle that is suitable for close combat would be the best."

Blatt suppose that was quite specific, but the boy was too humble in his opinion. If the boy's resume wasn't a lie he was an unorthodox mage who relied on deception tactics which, when combined with the firepower he possessed, resulted in a very effective combatant. Not much in the mobility department unlike most aerial mages. The boy received the same education as the rest and yet his strengths seemed to be built for infiltration and defensive purposes.

He was about to go and fetch a spread of different rifles before he remembered, "Ah, do you know about Lieutenant Degurechaff's preference?"

The boy answered right away, "She would prefer the same size and weight, but she has better accuracy so the rate of fire is less important." Tanya had told him before what weapon she'd like to have. "Also, she won't mind if the weapon needs a lot of maintenance." Alberich smiled at this, "Tanya- I mean Lieutenant Degurechaff likes cleaning her weapon routinely." Even as far back as OCS where she couldn't use them much. Then again, for a gun nut like her having a real weapon must have been a novel experience.

"Hm… I am sure we have what you need."

So Blatt wandered through the armoury and came back with a couple of weapon of his choice, but Alberich still couldn't tell which would be the best for him. So Blatt and Einzbern suggest he try all of them at the nearby shooting range to get a feel. The two older mages also carried their own rifles, as officers stationed in the rear they wanted to practice so they wouldn't be rusty in case they had to be deployed to the front.

Alberich tried several rifles; the beretta M1918, Hellriegel 1915 and the unique Luger that had several different types of barrel. Blatt also recommended the awkward looking c96 Mauser as a sidearm. Alberich liked the compact designs of the Luger and Mauser but he avoided the ones with detachable barrels. Fumbling with different parts of his weapon in combat it could spell his doom.

So his choice fell to a modified submachine gun, the MP-18 with an extended barrel It fit most of his preferences for a weapon. It was much smaller than his old Mondragon, only 832mm to the Mondragon's 1105mm. Unfortunately it wasn't lighter than Mondragon but when he fired it the recoil wasn't as bad and it felt comfortable enough to handle.

"Try firing a spell with it." Blatt suggested.

Alberich nodded, eager to test fire a mana loaded bullet with his new gune. He picked a spare magazine and began enchanting the rounds. Imbuing a bullet was one of the most basic skills for an aerial mage, and the efficiency was using very little mana and quick activation. So even though he hadn't used the spell for quite a while Alberich didn't expect any problems.

Except all of a sudden his surroundings began to be saturated with his own mana. "Huh?" The mana he fed through his computation orb to enchant the bullet should have been like a drop of water to his ocean-like mana reservoir, but instead it was like the figurative dam had burst and released far far more than was necessary.

"Beilschmidt, what's wrong?!" Being experienced mages in their own right both Blatt and Einzbern noticed the surge of mana right away.

Alberich cried out, "It's my orb! It's sucking out my mana like a black hole!" He struggled with his free hand to reach out to his pocket and was surprised when his hand was burned by the excess mana. Did his new Forkerr have a defective mana chamber? "Kuh! This thing!"

He let go of the enchanted round, throwing it as far as possible and watched it blow a portion of the shooting range sky high. Ignoring the pain in his hand Alberich fished out the orb from his pocket and cut off the mana by force.

"Beilschmidt!" Blatt approached him, followed by Einzbern. "Is the orb faulty or something?"

"It seems to be a problem with the mana chamber and excess mana sink."

Blatt frowned, "That's strange… Orbs are meticulously checked for faults before issue."

"Also, what's a black hole?" Einzbern couldn't help but ask.

"Eeh-" Albert Einstein hadn't gotten that far yet? "Anyway…" He diverted their attention as he reached to the pocket where he kept his orb. "Why my orb went wild comes first."

"Maybe-"

They speculated until Al burn hand opened to reveal not the expected face of a Forkerr but a different, though very _familiar,_ looking orb. "This orb… Elenium Type-95β?!"

"How did that get in your pocket?!" Of course neither Blatt nor Einzbern even considered that Alberich had stolen it because after what the boy wrote about Schugel's invention there was no way Alberich would keep it so close to his body unless he had a death wish.

Einzbern's eyes widened in realization, "This morning when he met you in the cafe…" While Schugel had a chance to slip the orb in Alberich's pocket, it was still very hard to believe. Alberich disliked being touched by people he wasn't familiar with so he was very aware of physical contact. Unless Schugel was a pro pickpocket, but surely if someone rummaging your chest pocket you would feel it even one not as sensitive as his student?!

Alberich patted the numerous pockets on his uniform and his face paled. "My Forkerr MK-13 is gone!"

Blatt and Einzbern exchanged glance, "Schugel couldn't have given the orb to Beilschmidt in the hope it would blow him up, right?"

Einzbern shook his head, "Schugel is a madman but surely his pride in his invention surpasses his insanity?He wouldn't use them as a tool to get back at Beilschmidt."

For a moment Alberich considered this as an act of revenge from Schugel but the scientist had looked too peaceful to be planning an act of murder against him. But he remembered Schugel's words from this morning and he became as white as a a sheet.

" _Because it was impossible in this lifetime with human hands."_

And so, he sought the unseen hand of God. "Why didn't I notice…" That damned being-X spoke to Schugel and offered to perfect his orb! Of course orbs with flawed designs like Schugel's would need divine intervention to accomplish perfection! "Major Einzbern, we have to go to the Elenium-lab! Tanya is in danger!"

Einzbern frowned in confusion, "Huh?" He had a hard time computing Tanya as being in danger rather than the danger itself. "Schugel is planning to blow her up too?"

With divine intervention. "We have to hurry! Professor Schugel was acting weird this morning, there's no guarantee he isn't planning something!"

Blatt groaned, "I have my car outside." They rushed to Blatt's car, the colonel had a very troubled expression as he put on his safety belt. "We have frozen his funds and suspended the project, what could he do now?"

"Schugel is crazy, it shouldn't surprise us that he wouldn't care about his suspension. It's still an internal notice but he shouldn't ignore it!" Einzbern was rubbing his temple somberly. "So, how weird was he this morning?" He asked Alberich.

Alberich answered promptly, "He said that God would help him with his project." At least he implied that because he couldn't, God would.

It was only one sentence but it was enough to make both older mages fall silent. Blatt almost lost hold of the steering wheel when he heard that Schugel, of all people, was calling for aid from God. The only thing more dangerous than a mad scientist was a desperate one that had suddenly renounced his atheism.

"And we thought he couldn't get any crazier than he already was." Einzbern lamented.

Alberich stared pitifully at his instructor, "Major… A very wise person once said there are only two infinite things: the universe and human stupidity."

Einzbern coughed at that, "And stupidity isn't all that different from insanity in grand scheme of thing when a genius is concerned."

"A very wise man indeed." Blatt agreed.

"True."

They had underestimated Schugel. Hopefully nothing exploded before they could arrive at the Elenium Test Facility. Knowing Schugel, the chance was slim.

* * *

 **Cruscos Airport**

Alberich and the two older mage officers weren't the only ones regretting the predicament of Schugel not giving up on his beloved quad core orbs. English musician Chris Lowe once said, "Stupidity combined with arrogance and a huge ego will get you a long way." All Tanya could do is watch Schugel being led astray by arrogance and ego on his long road to insanity, and she was going to be his roadkill.

The halt in the development of the flawed Orb and her return to the training unit was joyous news. The only problem wa that the notice was just an internal memo and wasn't set in stone yet. Then again, with Alberich's report proposing that Schugel's research be used to start on dual core technology, it was just a matter of time. She wouldn't even need to get involved anymore as Schugel had to restart from scratch before needing test personnel. This was a wonderful news since with dual core prototypes the pool of eligible candidates would be larger than a miniscule two.

But the bad news was that Schugel had never followed the sensibilities of the rest of the world, and she had been a fool for expecting him to start now. He should have been shamed and forced to keep his head down after his spectacular failure that cost their army so much money, sweat and blood. The lunatic, however, had gone off the deep end, as if he had received a radio wave from god knows where.

These 'radio waves' had apparently said that he'd received divine inspiration and that the damned orb would suddenly work. Tanya of course wasn't buying that. Working under a normal Schugel was already dangerous enough, so when the scientist turned out to be madder than previously thought it was surely a death sentence not even the most dedicated soldier could consent to.

"The results won't be pretty." Tanya mused to herself as she knelt on the concrete floor in despair.

Not to mention the experiment he wanted to commence today was materializing mana in its physical form. Another theoretical advancement the Elenium Type-95 _could_ have produced if the thing wasn't so fragile and complex. Alberich had been pretty interested when reading Schugel's initial report before tossing it aside and declaring ' _not in this century.'_ She had agreed with him wholeheartedly.

It was basically the wet dream of all physicists out there: self supporting energy constructs. Humanity had advanced when it came to controlling energy in nature, electromagnetic energy being converted into thermal and kinetic energies was a prime example of this. However, pure energy manifesting in physical form was a novel idea that only appear in science fiction even in her past life where technology was more advanced.

" _There's a good reason why magic is a_ _science_ _in this world and not something like in the_ _fantasy_ _of our old world."_

It was nigh impossible and dangerous. So right now Tanya was very resentful towards Schugel and the rest of his desperate team who had the nerve to observe the inevitable trainwreck from afar. Not that standing that far could help them; if she failed the whole facility would be blown to smithereens.

"Let's begin, Lieutenant! Today is a good day…"

Tanya stared at him somberly, "If you mean a good day to die, I disagree Doctor Schugel."

"I mean to accomplish something revolutionary of course." He rebuked. "You can start now, Lieutenant."

"Doctor, I strongly protest against proceeding with this experiment. If the accumulated mana went out of control, at the very least this facility will perish along with all of us." She shouldn't need to tell Schugel this, he was the creator of this flawed orb so he knew the consequences.

"Don't worry, I will be with you for every step on the way! For science to advance, sacrifice is necessary."

Should she feel better knowing that he would die with her then? Tanya could honestly admit the prospect of dragging Schugel to hell with her was tempting but she wasn't willing to sacrifice herself in the process. So she said, "I am a soldier not scientist." How could she lay her life down for science?

"Then it's an order, Lieutenant."

Okay, Schugel used the keyword no soldier could refuse and she had to obey her superior. So she could only lament this misfortune and get to work.

"Begin charging the mana chamber."

* * *

 **On the other side of Berun**

Alberich was now positive being-X had planned something malicious against them once again. After all, in a well organized city like Berun a traffic accident this severe was rare, even more so now with fuel rationing brought on by the war. Yet it had to happen right on this very street with the worst timing. For the first time in this second life Alberich was stuck in a traffic jam, and it wasn't a novel experience.

"You'd think God is on Schugel's side with the worst timed traffic jam…"

"What is the world is coming to if God smiles on that madman?"

He had been skeptical to Tanya's theory that Being-X had rotted a Legadonian politician's brain to get the ball called War rolling, but after everything that just happened to them Alberich had amended his opinion. It wasn't above Being-X to plunge the world into hell just because the entity wanted to be worshipped in times of hardship. It could almost be fair if Being-X alleviate their suffering whenever believers paid with prayer, but Alberich didn't believe the entity would pass up the opportunity to prolong it if they would pray harder.

Which was why even if he was stuck in a traffic jam and couldn't fly without permission in Berun, Alberich wouldn't pray. He had to get himself out of this mess with his own power! "Major, Colonel! I am getting off here!" He opened the door and stepped out into the car packed street.

"Beilschmidt!"

He made his way to the sidewalk and began to run while mentally calculating the distance from his location to Cruscos. It would take half an hour by foot to run to west side of Berun, but he had to get there faster somehow. As he passed a park he spotted a lady chatting with friends, and on her hands was an awkward looking vintage bike with a much bigger front wheel.

He took out his notepad and wrote down his name and his address at the transit hotel before marching towards the group of ladies with a resolute face. "Excuse me, Miss! I am in great need of your assistance!"

The ladies turned around, blinking owlishly at the sight of a young boy in military uniform. "Oh my! What do you need from me, brave soldier?" The lady holding the bike giggled, half-disbelieving half-amused by the boy.

"I'd like to borrow your bike to save a comrade in peril." He'd cajole her with dramatics longer if the situation wasn't an emergency so he seized her hands and looked straight at her with his brightest smile and most wide eyes. "Please?"

"Well. of course-" She stammered, looking flustered.

He slipped the paper in her hands that loosened from her bike, "Here is my name and address, you can contact me later to get your bike back later, Miss!" Alberich saluted before he drove the bike away from the group and drive like death was on his heels.

The ladies stared in confusion at his retreating form before they gathered around the small notes, "Alberich Beilschmidt… Havenstein-dorm." There was even a contact number of the dorm and it looked legitimate, at the very least it was unlikely their friend had been robbed in broad daylight. Not to mention-

" **He was so CUTE!"**

* * *

A few hundred meters from where he borrowed the bike, Alberich was exerting his mana to reinforce his leg muscles to pedal the bike harder. He wished that the GPS had already been invented because halfway to Cruscos he realized that other than the general direction of where the Cruscos Maneuvering Ground was located he didn't know the specifics. He had taken tram there before from the dorm and now, even though he was already in area, it was hard to navigate amongst the uniformly built army facilities.

Then the Elenium Type-95 began to glow in his pocket, and he could _feel_ a mana signature. Tanya's mana signature. It was a strange sensation, as while mages had an innate mana sense it wasn't so keen that mages could distinguish one signature from another. Whatever Being-X had done to this orb enabled him to feel and identify her mana, which was like a torrent of icy water with a bite of static prickling his skin.

He didn't mull over this new discovery as Tanya's mana spiked from a splash of cold water into a brewing storm. Alberich couldn't remember how he managed to get to ground zero but he surely ran into more than one person and at least some fences were cut down in the process.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

Tanya knew it was a terrible idea to obey Schugel's orders even though it was part of her contract, but she realized it was a _catastrophic_ idea when Schugel started talking about faith when she reached 7500 feet in altitude. He even sounded like one of her subordinates in her past life who got involved with one of those _new_ religions and decided to resign to live a pure and humble life in a religious community in the middle of nowhere. Back then she had backed away slowly and expressed her regret in losing a valuable employee for formality's sake, and treated the corrupted cultist no different from someone who had decided to live in a remote village for prawn farming.

[If we were to pray together to God, those with faith would be saved!]

If there was anything she could respect in Schugel, it would be his intelligence and confidence in his work. However this man had even lost his dignity as a human being, entrapped by Being-X to pray to accomplish his goal. Tanya concluded she'd rather be dragged to martial court for insubordination rather than continuing the experiment. Being a meritocracy, their court would be reasonable and judge her actions as in the Army's best interests.

So Tanya lowered the mana feed and activated the safety feature that would prevent the Orb from going out of control.

Of course, the safety devices attached to the Elenium Type-95 failed to start and the mana she supplied the orb with increased in volume rather than diminishing, like an insatiable mana sponge drinking from her reserves.

Schugel, the madman, had taken the unnecessary measure of disabling the safety mechanisms he'd deemed lacking in functional beauty. You'd think he'd have learned the difference between aesthetics and functionality after Alberich's lecture.

"Professor, aren't you an atheist?" Tanya tried to confirm Schugel's mental state before coming to a conclusion. She was steadily losing altitude but that was not the immediate concern.

[The God of Invention has descended to my side. Right now, I am a devout believer.]

That was a bust, Schugel had been corrupted. There was no way to salvage the situation. Both the Orb and its creator went out of control and it wasn't responding to her command. There was an option of expelling the mana but then the balance of the quad core synchronization would collapse. If the spell she had tried to cast was a standard flight spell she would have been fine, if a little singed just like in the previous experiments. However, the spell she had been ordered to cast was a more complicated one, designed to operate with the four cores in mind.

So she had to keep injecting mana into the orb even though she knew it was dangerous. But she was just delaying the inevitable until the Orb breached the limits of her control.

[If we become the believers of invention and pray earnestly, it will definitely work.]

Schugel still spouted nonsense about prayer, and Tanya missed how in the modern world religious men usually retained their rationale and common sense and didn't shove their beliefs in everyone's faces. Of course there were still religious lunatics troubling society back then, and Schugel would now fit in with them. The problem in this world was that these lunatics were allowed to live with the common folk.

"...By the way, what happens if I don't pray?" Tanya asked for the heck of it.

[The two of us will become martyrs.] The madman responded with the conviction of someone who was happy to go to Valhalla for his cause. Schugel now was no different than those suicide bombers who were promised by evil cultists that they would go to heaven if they robbed innocents of their life.

The difference was that Tanya and the Type-95 were his bomb and she didn't appreciate being turned into one for the sake of his ideal. That was why, if she was to die here, she'd die with her hands around his neck. It was a very bitter deal, but at least she could feel some small satisfaction in bringing him down with her.

[Calm down, Lieutenant. Didn't you meet with the god before? If both of us can trust god, we will be saved.]

When the killing intent hidden in her heart was about to manifest in reality, someone creamed and in the corner of her eye Tanya saw a panic-stricken Alberich flying in her direction. Where she was standing now was about to become ground zero, and the idiot woman was approaching her instead of fleeing!

"Alberich! Get away from here!"

Alberich didn't heed her warning. "Tanya! Activate the safety device!"

"I can't!" She snapped, "Schugel disabled it!"

As soon as the word left her lips, Alberich's own Orb started to overload as well. He pulled the chain, fishing the orb out of his coat to reveal the other Type-95. "Huh? I left this with Major Einzbern! How did it-" He had borrowed his instructor's orb before coming but the two Orbs were still switched.

Another Type-95, so Alberich coming here was also a plot of Being-X's. "That piece of shit is trying to kill us both!" Tanya came to a conclusion.

[The mana observation gauges are destabilizing! Both the Type-95 X and 95 ß are going out of control!]

[How can this be!? The core is melting! All personnel evacuate!]

The observation team were screaming in the background but both child mages ignored the noise of the adults that couldn't even save themselves. "Where's your back-up orb?"

Tanya gritted her teeth, "Not responsive! Even if we have the mana to spare the Type-95 will monopolize it!"

"Plan B! Slow down the flow of mana, focus the mana into a barrier spell and I will direct it to surround the Type-95!" Alberich's plan had merit, but the problem was this shitty orb wasn't listening to their order and the amount of their mana combined…

"Al, this is not just our magical power!" Even if they were both mana powerhouses, they would have felt something after exerting this much energy and yet they didn't feel a hint of fatigue.

Alberich's eyes widened at this, "He got us." That extraordinary [ _existence_ ] that toys with reality. A devil that toys with humans and bears ill news.

Then the wind became still and all background noise disappeared. Tanya and Alberich suddenly found themselves in that familiar, borderless white space. " **The conclusion of all this is that thing you all are developing called the Elenium Type 95."**

Alberich turned around first and before him was a likeness of a certain God of Destruction from a historical textbook of ancient civilizations in the Indus Valley. "A body covered in ashes, matted hair the tiger skin…" He ticked off the features of Being-X's new appearance, one which looked nothing like Zeus. "Shiva this time?"

"Shiva?"

"One of the principal deities of Hinduism." Alberich informed her.

'Shiva' looked pleased by Alberich recognizing his form, " **We decided to bestow a miracle and the Lord agreed with us."**

As expected, Schugel had become the latest victim of Being-X. However at the moment neither Tanya nor Alberich had any shred of sympathy to spare for Schugel. After all, the scientist fell victim because he wanted to accomplish his goal at any cost.

Tanya rubbed her temple, "I see…"

" **Next, allow me to congratulate you. The Lord accepts your ignorant and sinful existence and has decided to guide you onto the right path."**

Alberich groaned, "Wait, if the _Lord_ agrees with you all… " There was a whole group of them?! "Does our consent mean anything?!" Then he added, "This is no different from how the Prophet Jonah was treated…"

Tanya turned to him, "What did he do?"

"Refused to go to a certain sinful town to spread God's words."

Considering he was a prophet that basically he refused to work. "And what did Being-X do to him?"

Alberich's eyes shifted to the side, "Threw him off of the ship he boarded and imprisoned him inside a giant fish's stomach for three days."

Considering this Jonah character was still a prophet recorded in Bible Tanya guessed the guy repented in the end. "Isn't that abduction?!" Even lazy employee would just get fired, an employer had no right to imprison them against their will. "No, then… I don't ask for miracle."

" **Ah, don't worry. Your uneasiness stems from the fear that someone will force their ideals upon you right?"**

"Our uneasiness comes from how you're not listening to us." Alberich corrected the deity as he went on and on without paying them any real mind.

" **So be at ease."**

Tanya growled, "Did you hear us? You turn deaf on us and expect us to be at ease with whatever shitty plot you have in mind?!"

Alberich was not sure whether or not he would became an Atheist like Tanya now, but he still remembered being told that their God would always listen to them and understand. The entity before them was obviously did not.

" **Let us bestow your Operation Orb with blessings, and bring forth a miracle."**

"Is it of matter we _let_ you or not?!"

" **After using the Orb you will definitely understand the grace of god and sing the words of prayer."**

"Words of prayer?" Alberich and Tanya echoed in bewilderment.

"That's right. Words of praise to the Lord that has been forgotten by your forebears. It was not your fault that it wasn't passed down."

Alberich waved his hand in denial, "It's written in Bible, it's certainly passed down." Uttering them was of course up to each individual, and if humanity only listen to what their forebears says they would be stuck in Stone Age.

" **Of course. But that is not important to our discussion right now."**

How did they come up with such logic? Alberich had been told that God was mysterious and humanity was incapable of fully understand His grand scheme. However this was certainly not because he and Tanya were lacking in intelligence. They were just speaking to someone from another planet and they never imagined that they'd miss Google translate. At the very least then they could make out some basic sense from the words coming out of his mouth.

"This is not a discussion!" Tanya snapped. "You're not listening to us and we don't understand your nonsense!"

" **Like I said, the Lord will let you say the words of prayer, naturally allowing your heart to hear His voice and come to believe in miracles."**

Okay, at least now 'Shiva' showed some semblance of sense with responding to their words. "...This sounds like a terrible form of brainwashing." Tanya muttered tiredly.

Alberich joined in, "Also, the problem isn't us believing in your miracle!" For the best or worse, he _did_ believe that Being-X was capable of miracles but the problem was with the entity's personality!

" **We are not making this mandatory. This is just to let you experience the miracle of god and thus pray to Him devoutly. The Operation Orbs you two possess have already been blessed."**

This deity either still wasn't listening or was simply too set in his ways to understand what he and Tanya were getting at. This must be how Jonah felt; he could keep refusing to be the bearer of bad news but he would get stuck inside a fish's guts to mull over it.

Also, if the prayer was what Alberich thought it was. This was not just simple brainwashing, it was as if completely different _him_ had taking over. "You can't just-"

Tanya raised her hand, stopping Alberich from finishing his line. "Al, there's no point arguing...this is like talking to a wall." So protesting against praying to use the blessed orb was futile. "More importantly, what will happen to our body?" Back in their past life their body turned into minced meat by being hit by an oncoming train, a brief experience she didn't want to repeat.

" **You are being protected by the grace of god. Go, set off on your journey. Spread the name of the Lord to the people."**

In short they were expecting Tanya and Alberich to pray regardless of their own beliefs. Alberich recalled how prayer was a routine part of his past life, but that was before eating and exam and the likes. Being-X had just encouraged them to pray and lay waste to their enemies on the battlefield. The entity also think their faith would grow in such circumstances.

He had no time mulling over the unfairness and nonsense of Being X as suddenly he and Tanya found themselves on the ground, and facing the last human they wanted to see. Alberich was almost overcome with the intent to kill this man, it was for the good of the Empire anyway.

"The Lord descended among us! It is a miracle! Blessings will be granted to those who believe!" He seemed to believe he was a prophet now. Maybe Alberich should end Schugel's misery now, with how often his orb exploded it wasn't much of a stretch to suggest that Schugel had all talent he needed to be a suicide bomber.

"Shut up." Alberich snarled.

Schugel looked like he'd been wronged, but being a grown man he failed to earn pity from an incensed Alberich. "Second Lieutenant Beilschmidt. The experiment is a success! Why are you getting angry for? Let us give praise to God together!"

Alberich raised a trembling fist, he didn't seem like he was about to clasp his hands in prayer. "If you don't shut up I will-" Alberich never finished his sentence as Tanya spoke in a tone of voice that he'd never heard before.

"Oh, God!"

"Huh?" Alberich turned to look at Tanya wide-eyedly. "Tanya?"

Tanya was smiling benignly at him with the warmest eyes, hypnotizing him with them.

" **Ohh, the miracle of the lord almighty.  
Praise the Lord.  
Praise His glorious name."**

Then his lips rebelled, following Tanya's prayer with his own voice.

" **Come, worship the Lord  
For we are his people  
The flock that he shepherds  
Alleluia."**

The mana flowed smoothly into the Orbs and the cores synchronized perfectly like a well oiled machine. Alberich had a very short experience handling the unstable orb, but he knew it took his all to get the cores working together in harmony. However now the cores synchronized as if it had never been a problem in the first place. Controlling the Type-95 was effortless.

"It's a miracle!"

"Confirming four cores in tune for both Type-95s!"

"Detecting a tremendous output of magical energy!" The observational team had fallen into chaos as they shouted, some even crying tears of joy as their hard work at last bore fruit.

Alberich felt a familiar cloudiness in his mind, like an intoxicating lullaby that whispered in his ears that he had to give himself up to God and he will not want for anything anymore. That was when his mind snapped back to reality, sobering from the euphoria of blessed Orb.

"Aaah~ Second Lieutenant, at last we all understand the mystery of faith!"

The madman was a lost cause and Alberich had lost all his remaining sympathy for Schugel. Something snapped inside him when he saw the old man hugging Tanya and carrying her in his arms. Suddenly his mind was very, very clear and he knew what he had to do.

"PEDOPHILE!" He roared, landing a vicious kick on Schugel's back forcing the man to release the little girl.

WHAM!

Alberich knew something was really wrong with Tanya when she didn't land on her feet herself and had to be caught before she hit the ground. "Tanya, you-" Tanya's cheeks were flushed a pretty red, her eyes were still in shade of molten gold and clung to his neck like a limpet. "You-"

Most people would call Tanya in this state adorable but to Alberich who knew Tanya's true nature this corrupted Tanya gave him goosebumps. ' _Tanya is CREEPY!'_

"Let us pray and offer praises to our Lord." She clung tighter to him like a lovesick girl.

"Let's!" Schugel moaned, still in pain but unmindful of his dirty face that had kissed the ground.

Alberich was very glad he was a mage so even with Tanya in his arms he had enough strength to kick Schugel where men would feel pain the most. "Oh God, My-" Schugel's voice became impossibly high pitched as his hands clutched his manhood.

"Serves you right!"

All men in vicinity of the assault unconsciously held their hands protectively over their own third leg, staring in horror at the boy who had dared to attack a fellow man in his _schnitzel_.

"Second Lieutenant Beilschmidt!" Someone called. It seemed Major Einzbern and Colonel Blatt caught up with him at last. "What's going on here?!"

If he was calm, Alberich would explain the situation in concise and steady manner like a civilized people. However he was so angry, he couldn't think straight anymore. "We almost get killed and violated!" He roared at Schugel, who was still kneeling on the ground. Pointing at the mad man with trembling finger.

"Wha-?" The two older mage went blank at that. They had just arrived, found the maneuvering ground in shambles and Alberich wanting to commit murder. By all rights, committing violence against Chief Engineer Schugel was an offense but considering that Schugel had broken the rules first by commencing the experiment after his project was halted it became unclear who the guilty one was in this case.

Schugel's assistants became panicked and confused. "Wait, we're conducting a dangerous experiment!" Yet Second Lieutenant Beilschmidt made it sound like something immoral and perverted! "It's nothing of that nature!"

Schugel had killed many fellow mages with his experiment so their grudge against the scientist wasn't small. And now they had almost killed two young mages and not just any random mages either. Blatt could feel horror settle in the pit of his stomach at the thought of two Silver Wing Assault medal awardees getting killed at the Capital in the line of duty. Even worse, said duty was nothing more than assisting an experiment, nothing heroic like valiantly laying down their life for their country on the front line. The backlash from the public would be terrible, something they didn't need with the situation in the North and West.

Schugel was indeed a walking disaster, and just now he'd almost brought catastrophe upon not just their two departments but the whole army.

"I don't care!" Alberich roared, snapping Blatt and Einzbern out of their thoughts. "And excuse me, I need to detox my friend here! If you touch Tanya again, **I will kill you!"** He growled, taking Tanya with him and shoving the two blessed Orbs none-to-gently into the nearest assistant.

The parting words he left them with suggested that _someone_ had drugged his childhood friend. No one could stop him when he ran in the direction of their HQ while both Colonel Blatt and Major Einzbern approached the project team with menacing glares.

"Care to explain yourselves before we contact the military Police or the Imperial Justice Department?"

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Tanya's room**

With Tanya's out-of-character, spoiled attitude Alberich wanted nothing more than to flee away from her. However he was not someone who would abandon Tanya in this state, especially as he knew how much he had wanted someone to knock himself out the same state back in Rhine. So he endured until they reached Tanya's room at Cruscos HQ. This wasn't something a doctor could fix, and Alberich wasn't sure that what he had in mind would work either.

It was fortunate they were mages, so he didn't have to be a professional lock picker to unlock Tanya's door. With her acting like this he wasn't comfortable rummaging her clothes for the key. So Alberich mentally prodded the lock's simple tumbler using magic. With a clingy Tanya in his arms he rushed to her bathroom. Considered a leftover japanese habit, Tanya didn't drain the leftover bathwater from the tub after she used it like Alberich did, so he didn't have to refill it and simply threw Tanya straight into the cold water.

SPLASH!

"What the hell?!" Tanya's eyes had returned to icy shade of blue.

Alberich became teary when she returned to normal, "You're back! I was so scared you'd be corrupted by Being-X forever!"

Tanya froze when the memory of how she had behaved after praying rushed into her mind. She shuddered and hugged her soaked body tightly. "What was I thinking? Why did I glorify that piece of shit?! I hugged Schugel and let him carry me like a little girl!"

"Tanya…"

"Bleargh!" She rushed to the loo and vomited her breakfast, "Ugh...I even clung to you like a sloth!"

He nodded frantically, tears scattered with every shake. "You creeped me out!" Tanya acting so girly and worshipping Being-X was a new kind of horror for him. "Are you… sober now?"

"It's cold…" She shuddered.

Alberich reached out to pull the plug of the tub while Tanya grabbed a nearby towel to dry herself. The boy refilled the tub with warm water and it was half-full when Tanya came back, wrapped in bathrobe. "Warm yourself up."

He sighed tiredly with his back resting against the tub as Tanya hopped into the warm water, and grumbled when the bathrobe Tanya had discarded landed on his face. She could be sloppy at times when her mind was occupied.

"Schugel changed his job from scientist to religious fanatic." Tanya grumbled, lowering her head so the rest of her sentence became muffled by water.

Alberich shrugged, "There's no helping him then." He never had good impression of religious fanatics even in his previous life, one of his biased teachers was one. Apparently going to church and being a deacon didn't mean someone was a good person. "Schugel's goal in life was to see his invention perfected, Being-X gave him that." Even if a devil helped him Schugel would worship it too.

"He's a mad fanatic, and still as much a madman as before. He is so obsessed with his religion that he went bonkers."

To be honest he couldn't tell the difference. "Haaa…"

"Everything so far had been a nightmare. After being cursed and experiencing a rather unpleasant situation, I am finally…finally free."Tanya sounded thoroughly exhausted.

"Tanya…"

"As long as it isn't here, I don't mind going anywhere. I just want to get away."

He craned his neck, she sounded pitiful but judging from resentful look on her face as blew bubbles in the bathwater Alberich realized Tanya was fine. His lips quirked up, if she could make such face even now she would get back to her usual self in a jiffy.

"Even if you have to join me in the Underworld called Rhine?" He asked.

"Hmph! As long as Schugel isn't there, even the underworld is preferable."

And so the two mages were headed back to the Rhine battlefront, a likeness of hell. Hiding in trenches, smeared with mud, piss, fleas and grudge. They had to fly in the polluted and gloomy skies of Rhine, raining death upon the Empire's enemies.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **The Next day**

After the fiasco with Schugel, he was given a reprimand by Major Einzbern and Colonel Blatt for assaulting a superior and creating a misunderstanding. No disciplinary action was to occur, simply because the enlightened Schugel had specifically asked for the matter to be swept under the rug. The two senior mage officers agreed because Alberich couldn't get away from the consequences of his rash actions against a Chief Engineer otherwise.

Frankly both officers were more vexed with Schugel for openly rebelling against their order and almost blowing up the whole facility with his selfishness. If anything, Alberich kicking the madman repeatedly gave them some comfort that Schugel gotten some of his just deserts. Just because Quad-core technology had been successfully trialed didn't mean they'd set the example that Schugel could let the ends justify the means.

So both Alberich and Schugel got away with a slap on the wrist. Alberich was just glad of this win-win situation and went to his Second Name ceremony without protest. It was nowhere as grand as Tanya's anyway. It was quite a subdued affair attended by just the members of the MMB, but it was still a ceremony worthy of a hero.

In fiction it was cool for the hero to have a nickname. He had thought so too, but later when Instructor Einzbern had taught the class about the ' _Second Names'_ given to outstanding Imperial Mages he begun to disagree. It was cool when someone else got a cool nickname like 'Yellow Flash' or 'Titania' but imagining himself with one in reality was downright embarrassing. He had no interest in an otaku's childish wet dream, and it was partly why he'd rather have an uncool job in the rear.

Even worse was the Imperial citizen's sense of naming, as proven by Tanya's 'Argent.' Which part of her was pure and noble? Someone should explain, since to Tanya it was a name worthy of death by shaming. He could only hope that his wouldn't kill him with embarrassment.

" **And so we present to you, the pride of the Mage Corps, with a name worthy of your chivalrous, loyal and just deeds. Your name is…"**

Where did they get the chivalry, or justice for that matter? The " _loyal_ " part could be excused because he did stay in that hell out of loyalty to his comrades, but the rest was just nonsense! Noble Knights would roll in their graves if someone like him was deemed chivalrous.

 _Don't cringe, keep your face stern…._

" **...Paladin, Alberich the brave Paladin!"**

Alberich kept his eyes focused on the old senior mage waving his scepter in a ceremonial gesture as he uttered his Second Name. Inwardly, he wandered if Tanya had also thought ' _Please kill me'_ as she received her name like he did now.

In midst of the joyful applause of his fellow mages Alberich could only force a smile onto his lips and thank the senior mage who lead the ceremony. He spotted Tanya clapping with others, her strained smile and twitching eyebrow said they shared the same sentiment.

' _Oh Being-X, must you give me a lifetime of shame burdened with this terrible name?'_

The redhead could almost hear the bastard answer 'Yes.'

Just to screw with them.

* * *

 **I could have hold this back until Christmas eve... and not making my editors work too hard before X-mas... but I figured that I gotta give ya all a treat because it's my birthday! Yaaaay~ *Throw confetti* (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ**

 **Unfortunately I can't be too happy about + 1 on my age** **(⇀‸↼‶) lmao**

 **Please credited Schugel's pain to Ocean Sailor, who insist we have to inflict that much pain on the madman... also Foxtrot that helps with choosing weapon scene in this chapter.  
And credits to Braze for accepting my willful demand to release this right on my birthday eve. **

**Anyway... Happy Holiday for everyone, and don't forget to drop a review!**


	17. 16th Record

**16th Record  
Herodom and Propaganda**

Of all disadvantage his disorder gave him, he hated his sensitive hearing the most. Hypersensitive hearing didn't mean he had bat ears. Unlike what's written in fiction, in his case it meant he was less tolerant to loud noise than general population. They didn't just grate his nerve, more like driving him to insanity that his reflex reaction to loud noise ranged from bounding to another side of the room or throwing whatever/whoever making the noise as far as he could. Or in more extreme case like back in Rhine front, he cut them up to pieces.

He had better control of himself after he reached adulthood back in his past life, repeating the suffering from noise in his second life was a pain and a half.

"Ugh… AL!"

You'd think his childhood friend would be more sympathetic.

"My insides… it's going to-"

But no, Tanya had serious case of nonexistent empathy in her bone. So she kept screaming, pulling his already strained nerve to the max.

"Ugh- AAAAL! Are you listening?!"

However for the life of him, he couldn't scream back at her. He wasn't a girl anymore, and screaming like a banshee would damage his image beyond repair. While he wasn't building image of perfect soldier like Tanya, at least he was seen as a little gentleman who should have enough patience for his childhood sweetheart's plight.

Of whatever everyone around them think Tanya is to him.

"Tanya." He began patiently, gripping his fist so hard that crescent shaped mark could be seen on his palm. He had to restraint the urge to cover his ears and cringe, that would be unsightly. "Your organ is fine."

"They're bruised. And I think I will vomit my organs out of my mouth."

"Tanya, don't be obscene… _**CORSET**_ is used for centuries by woman to give them beautiful figure, and as restraining as they could be- they're not torture device, and your organ will stay where they belong." He said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Yes- all that screaming was over a corset. Tanya even accuse him for being heartless to let her be subjected to such torture.

Why did this happen? Well, it started from few days ago…

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Few Days Ago**

They had been told there would be _this_ _kind_ of mission when Alberich got his medal, but they were never given any details. The briefing had arrived just a day before the mission was scheduled, a very rushed Propaganda Department job. However the content of the letter worried Alberich.

When the Brass had said they needed ' _slight'_ assistance from the pair of Silver Winged awardees Alberich heard an alarm blaring in his head. Just like how anyone who asked for ' _five-minutes'_ wouldn't actually be ready within three hundred seconds like they promised, the minor assistance they'd been asked would be anything _but_. It could be something terrible from the perspective of lowly subordinate like themselves.

So Alberich wondered where Tanya's optimism about the project came from, especially considering the orders she'd gotten for her last two assignments.

While propaganda missions were usually not life threatening- _unless you were the dumb Legadonians transgressing Empire's borders-_ Alberich felt uncomfortable with stretching the truth, manipulating information and straight up lying in order to further their Imperial Army's agenda with the public.

He was raised as a very honest individual in his past life. Forget propaganda, even telling tiny white lies made Alberich uncomfortable. Tanya on the other hand had no problem, to her it was just a natural part of humanity being a political animal and thus spent half a day polishing her boots. It was their job anyway so they should just do it as ordered. However…

"Most cameras in this era are still monochrome and not high definition, I don't think anyone can tell how shiny your boots are." He pointed out to Tanya, and had a boot thrown at his head for his trouble.

Alberich felt silly ironing his uniform so thoroughly following Tanya's orders, but he'd rather not have another clothing article tossed in his direction so he just did what she asked.

"In the countless political propaganda photos which starred heroes past and present alike what they shared was the magnificence of their uniform!" She'd stated.

 _That's what you think, you military otaku._ "Uh huh…" Was his only response as he hung up his crisply ironed uniform. Inwardly he thought that it would be a very boring job.

Even in his past life he was never fond of taking pictures. While he had been a 3D designer, he also did a bit of side work making flyers and pamphlets promoting events and merchandise. As a result he couldn't help but think that adding a cute girl like Tanya to a row of stern faced men in crude uniforms wasn't the most creative marketing strategy.

The next day at 9 o'clock sharp the both of them arrived at Propaganda Department office, one brimming with high spirits and the other with much more resignation. Alberich couldn't help but wonder why Tanya was so hyped up over this job. Perhaps because it appeal to her oversized ego? At least one of them was enjoying it.

"This should be an easy job." Tanya grinned.

That caught his attention and he turned to Tanya who was raising her hand to knock on the door. "Easy?" He echoed, "You know Tanya, not that I want to dampen your mood but maybe you shouldn't say something that will trigger Murphy law."

The door opened and Alberich hesitated. "Let's just get inside and do our job." Tanya hissed at him.

The moment they had stepped into the interior Alberich felt concentrated disapproving stares alongside the sound of sighing. They weren't directed at him however, but at the very confused little girl standing beside him. The majority of the Propaganda Department staff in the room were female and the looks on their faces were very familiar to Alberich.

It was the look his mother had whenever she'd lamented his lack of feminine qualities in his past life and how she wished her daughter would dress more stylishly. Calculating these factors in mind Alberich turned to his childhood friend and said, "I think they disagree with your choice of fashion." He translated for her helpfully.

"Huh?" Tanya raised an eyebrow at him, her lips twitching into a scowl. "What nonsense are you sa-"

The female staff marched up and snatched Tanya away from his side mid-sentence. Tanya's icy blue eyes filled with a panic Alberich had never seen before as the women in blue uniforms chattering about unrefined uniforms and unlady-like behavior. He was rooted to the spot along with the rest of the male staff as the women proceed to drag Tanya behind the partition screen that served as changing room.

"AL! HELP ME!"

That snapped him out of his petrified state, "Tanya?! What's wrong?" The next thing he knew a white blur had charged past and latched onto his back. It was Tanya, missing most of her articles of clothing save her breeches and tank-top, her eyes widened in panic and fear. No matter how old she was in soul, getting stripped almost bare by a group of woman would be a traumatizing experience.

"Little Tanya! Don't run away!"

"We have pretty dresses for you!"

Tanya, of course, refused to move from her hiding spot behind Alberich. The young boy was also more than a bit scared of the domineering group of women in front of him. "Uhm… Ma'am, can you give us a re-briefing? Because there seems to be a misunderstanding in the mission documents we received." He said, holding out one arm to halt the advancing women while the other was holding a folded letter.

It did mention something like ' _When in the Reich one needs to act, in a literal sense, according to their station'_ which confused Alberich a lot, and Tanya had taken the liberty of assuming that meant that both of them had to dress like proper soldiers.

The leader of the female staff, whose name tag read ' _Helga_ ' on it took the letter and read it briefly, "Well, I must say that this briefing is very vague." She cleared her throat, "But basically my dears~"

'Dear' hadn't been used on either of them since the orphanage, Alberich couldn't help but muse. The leader then went on to explain the concept behind this propaganda mission. It was obvious that since they had stripped Tanya the image of plain old heroic soldiers in uniform wasn't the image they'd desired. When Alberich asked what they'd really needed from them the lengthy explanation could be summarized as;

 _To arouse patriotic spirit by putting their cuteness as a pair of adorable children to good use._

So they wouldn't be in uniform but in a dress and suit. Alberich of course had no problem with this arrangement, Tanya on the other hand…

"Why can't I wear the same clothes as Lieutenant Beilschmidt?" Al at most was just one inch taller than Tanya so his clothes would fit her. This was Tanya's excuse for wearing boys clothes back in orphanage.

Helga was horrified, obviously she wasn't as gullible as sisters in orphanage. "But you're a girl, dear! So you can't wear his clothes!"

"Then can't I just wear my uniform? I am a soldier, Ma'am!"

Helga paled rapidly, it seemed that even in this world their elders wouldn't accept their generation's desire to be more career minded. "My goodness, don't you understand just how boorish and coarse these uniforms are?"

Was that something the staff of the Propaganda Department should say about their glorious army's choice of fashion? Personally Alberich thought their uniforms were pretty stylish compared to what the Republicans wore into battle.

"It would have been fine even if you acted a little bit more feminine. Even as a soldier there's no clause stating that you must behave like a man." She gave Alberich a meaningful glance. "A feminine woman is more beautiful right, dear?"

Tanya's eyes were pleading now because Alberich was obviously the only way to salvation now. "Ma'am… can I have my fitting first? We have the whole day and I think your over-enthusiasm…" He trailed off as glancing at Tanya who was still using him as meat shield against Helga. "Makes… Tanya nervous." He trailed off, "She is not used to this kind of thing, you see?"

In normal circumstances Tanya would be offended to be painted as a weak and shy girl, but when it came to dealing with domineering woman Tanya left it to Alberich. As a former woman he spoke their language!

Helga's eyes softened at Alberich. What a gentleman to go out his way to ease a lady's nervousness! "Very well… Little Tanya, you can sit over there, we have tea and cookies to soothe your nerves. Alberich, come with us, dear..."

Alberich felt it was strange he felt more comfortable dressing up as a boy rather than as a grown woman, he was having fun trying many kind of apparel for boys. Formal style with a top hat, button up shirt and a vest was elegant. Casual attire that resemble a sailor's uniform from his former country felt both nostalgic and fresh. The overcoat was a bit thick but he thought the autumn colors looked good with his red hair, something supported by the staff's reaction.

"Oh my! Oh my! Like we thought, autumn is your color, dear!"

"How about we style your hair a bit with gel, you will look more mature."

"Hm… looks good! But I think showing off his youthfulness works better! Fortunately young Alberich here takes good care of his hair unlike some soldiers I know."

"My! Your skin is smooth as well! Nothing like my boys'!"

All in all, getting fussed over by these ladies wasn't to bad, though he hoped they'd stop pinching his cheeks and cooing at him. He looked like he was ten years old, not a toddler. "Hm?" Tanya looked horrified watching him and dreading her turn.

He gave her a look, ' _Don't run, we have a job to do.'_

' _Can't we just strategically retreat?!'_

Tanya and her drama, it was just outfitting! If he had to go through this session than so did she! Besides, Alberich grinned to himself, it was too good to pass up. A chance to see Tanya get dressed up and made-over. Even without make-up and in her military uniform Tanya still looks very cute. It took a lot of effort just to get Tanya to tie her wavy blonde hair into a neat ponytail, there was no way he could get her to dress up like a proper girl if she wasn't forced too.

"Tanya, it's your turn!" Alberich beamed, "You should be mentally prepared by now, right?"

Resentfully she looked up from her seat at her very refreshed and happy childhood friend. "Can't you spare me from this misery, Al?"

"No can do, it's our job!"

Since when did this 'minimum effort unless forced' layabout become so dutiful? If there was anything Tanya had learned about Al's intelligence it was that despite his higher than average IQ he lacked the motivation to apply it if he wasn't interested. It had always irked Tanya how this guy could score well in an exam with just a one night cramming session. So obviously there was something that made Al interested in this.

She didn't miss that the sketchbook and pencil he frequently carried when not on duty was laid out on a nearby table. Al, the deranged artist, _loved_ to use her attractive looks to model for his drawings and he wasn't going to pass up the chance to take advantage of her suffering.

She growled at him in Japanese, " _Al, omae wa kusotare."_

He smiled innocently, "Eeeh, it's not like I can help you avoid your responsibilities! This mission is for two not one, and you're not the type to quit, are you?"

 _This retarded artist!_

"Besides… this job is easy, right? Nothing like the life threatening missions you had before, right?"

Alberich was correct. This mission wasn't like being used as a test subject and being blown away repeatedly by that lunatic Doctor Schugel. Nor was it similar to being forced to engage in long, drawn out, solitary battles on the frontlines. Simply put, they were just helping the spread of political propaganda.

However, instead of threatening her life this mission was damaging her dignity.

"It will be over before you know it!" The red headed devil smiled angelically, sketchbook at the ready. If one didn't know him they'd say that Alberich was being perfectly sweet.

For Tanya, feeling betrayed by her superiors was nothing new. But this was the first time Alberich had abandoned Tanya to her misery without a shred of sympathy. However, she couldn't deny that he was telling the truth. The Propaganda Department held their leash today and Tanya just had to resign herself to whatever fate these women had in mind. She wasn't allowed to make their job difficult, and with that Tanya surrendered.

She thought she deserved at least some discussion, but against her protests they put her in a floor length skirt with an inconceivable design which fluttered as she moved, along with lace covered high heels that would trip her if she tried to march in them. Just how had Alberich managed to walk in these dreaded thing in his past life?

"You have such beautiful skin, how wonderful! I had heard you were injured but it looks like I was worried about nothing… The skills of those military doctors sure are amazing! Since your legs are nice and slender, maybe this one will do!" Then the manager of Propaganda Department, Helga, asked the traitor. "What do you think, dear?"

The shameless Alberich chirped, "It looks very cute on Tanya! Red and other striking colors will emphasize her fair skin."

"You heard him dear." Helga gushed, "It's rare to find a boy who understands what looks good on you!"

What the fuck this woman was talking about? There was only one boy who remembered being a woman in his past life!

Those dresses looked good on her, and Alberich was collecting sketch after sketch at record speed. He even marked the dress with a color pencil so he could color them in later. "Hm…" The dresses were nice and all but to Alberich it felt like something was missing.

It seemed that while Tanya was done with outfitting the staff definitely weren't done with her. Much to her displeasure they were now busy giving her tips on how to take care of her fair skin.

She wasn't getting a photo in uniform like she wanted. The madams had said that their uniform was rough looking but frankly Alberich thought it was quite cool. Maybe not so much on young girls like Tanya but unlike school uniforms there was no female uniform in their army. If there was perhaps Tanya would be in pencil skirt like these female staff. That won't look good on a young girl like her, a pleated skirt like the average Japanese uniform would better emphasize her youth.

Alberich's hand was already moving, the carbon tip of his pencil graced the paper as he poured his imagination into it. "Hm-hm…" Since Tanya had slender arms sleeve would be a nuisance so they had to go. "A sleeveless uniform looks a tad rebellious." The skirt length for girls in this era was always below the knee but he wondered if it would be acceptable to go slightly shorter and add stockings. What did those otaku call it? 'Absolute Territory' or something?

The ceremonial uniform had a mantle, so that was added too. It looked a bit like a magical girl outfit, but since Tanya was a mage anyway Alberich was satisfied. Since the magical girl look fitted, maybe he should give Tanya a slightly different hairstyle? Twin ponytails looked surprisingly good with a tipped cap.

His hand stopped when he reached out for a color pencil. The dark green color of their Imperial army didn't fit, so maybe he should use another color? Blue to fit Tanya's eyes was out of question, that was the Republic's color. The same color as her first dress was good but this custom uniform was showy enough without a striking color like red. So maybe he should just leave it white and shade it with grey, make the buttons silver after their medal and Second Name?

The final touch would have to be a hair ornament of some kind, maybe a rose or wing. Alberich hummed to himself, satisfied with his work despite noting that this drawing had to be kept far away from Tanya. She would-

"Oh, my! What a wonderful likeness of little Tanya!"

Alberich jumped in fright. He was so focused on drawing he didn't even notice that Helga had been peering over his shoulder for quite some time. He had dropped the sketch book and before he could pick it back up Helga did so and had scrutinized his drawing with critical eyes. "Uhm… Ma'am?" Alberich's face was very red from embarrassment. "Could I have my book back?"

Helga turned deaf ears on the poor boy, "Interesting… an unorthodox style of uniform that emphasizes little Tanya as a pure young maiden, but clearly displays that she is a soldier nonetheless!"

Actually half-way through Alberich had switched from drawing 'soldier Tanya' to 'magical girl Tanya-chan.'

"Um… I-"

"It's okay dear. I know that Mage mature at a faster rate than their peers!" Did she just suggest that he had fantasies of Tanya at _that_ light?! "I can see that this is still our Imperial army uniform from the cross, shoulder guard and tipped hat... if only the upper brass could be convinced to issue uniforms designed for women to their female officers…" She mused wistfully, "Hm, that's good too! We can use this!"

"Use what?"

"Ladies!" Helga called out, "Look at this! Who knew Little Alberich had such talent?!"

Helga was swarmed by the rest of the staff in no time, leaving Al standing with his hand outstretched for the sketchbook she'd taken from him.

Tanya wobbled to his side, exhausted from whatever treatment they had put her through. "If you can distract them, you should do it sooner!" Tanya huffed at him.

"I didn't-"

Helga's voice interrupted, "Run along and contact our tailor to make this. It shouldn't be difficult to put together before the photo shoot. For little Alberich, let's just tailor a white version of the ceremonial uniform. This is just our first day so… there should be plenty of time to sew both."

"Yes, Ma'am!" One of Helga's assistants jokingly saluted before rushing out with Alberich's sketchbook in hand.

Alberich wasn't sure he'd ever get that book back. "Wait." He computed what Helga just told her assistant. "Ma'am, you're going to make the clothes I drew?!"

Tanya had a completely different concern, "First day? What do you mean today is just the first day?"

Helga beamed at the pair of children, "Well! We have until the end of the week to prepare for the photoshoot. Today is just outfitting, next time we will do something with your hair."

' _There's a next time?'_ Tanya couldn't help but sway from the impact of the psychological shock.

Alberich in the other hand now could confirm the next few days would be long and-

He glanced at Tanya.

"What?" She snapped at him.

-torturous for Tanya.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **2** **nd** **Day (hairstyle)**

"This is heresy to women everywhere! You must take care of your beautiful hair!"

"But I did take care of it according to the health regulations." Tanya protested futilely.

"Also, your brush! Is it issued by the military too?!"

Tanya timidly answer, "Yes?"

Helga looked like Tanya had just killed her puppy, "Ladies! Get her our best shampoo and conditioner! If any of you have spare brush give it to this poor girl!"

Alberich in the other hand finished his part in no time today. They just combed and gelled his slightly spiky hair. "This formal look will work." The male staff who helped him said out loud. "You're done, Second Lieutenant…"

"Thank you."

"On the other hand… Second Lieutenant Degurechaff won't be done anytime soon."

"Indeed." He hummed before an idea popped up in his mind. "By the way Sir, what will you do about the backdrop?"

He might as well enjoy it while he could.

 **Back to the present**

If Tanya was barely cooperative for her hair and dresses, today was even more so because of corset. Alberich couldn't see anything with the partition separating himself from Tanya and the female staff but he could hear them loud and clear. No wonder there was the pun ' _Of Corset hurts_.' He was so glad he was a boy, corsets in this era were undoubtedly nowhere as comfortable as modern ones. Not that he would know, back in his previous life he wore waist nipper on occasion, not corset though.

"Your clothes are finished earlier than Lieutenant Degurechaff's because there's not much to alter on it." The male staff helping him commented. "It's just our usual ceremonial uniform but in white."

Alberich hummed as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, "Hm…"

"Should the shoulder board be in silver or in our usual gold?"

 _Tanya's groan traveled all the way from the other side of the room. "Ma'am! You're crushing my insides!"_

" _Nonsense dear! This is nothing compared to pain of childbirth! It's for your own good!"_

" _#$%^ &*^!" Tanya shrieked when the woman mentioned childbirth and what other pains womankind had to endure._

How strange the male side was, so serene, while it was a ruckus on the female side.

"And about the background for the photo-shoot." Alberich trailed off as soon as he changed back to his usual uniform.

The male staff nodded, "We have prepared the large canvas for you, and we also found an apprentice painter who would love to join this project." The point of this propaganda was them, so the background used didn't have to be high quality one and outshining the heroes. Beside, with war on the West and North they had to save every penny they could. Those apprentice was happy enough with meager pay and the chance to get their painting to be part of this project.

Alberich beamed, "I appreciate it."

"I have to say though, Second Lieutenant… if you're not already commissioned on the front line we would be happy to have you." The Propaganda Department wasn't a place he'd like to work, but having a plan B for another Rear-line opening wasn't a bad idea.

"It's my pleasure to hear that."

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

His pleasure didn't last long as Tanya hobbled on and complaint like no tomorrow over her grievance for her female body and how Alberich was lacking sympathy for her plight. He could see Helga and her subordinates were looking at them with heartwarming gaze, as if Tanya was a sweet little girl who wanted to be pampered after enduring the pain to be pretty for him.

"I can't move." Tanya looked like she was about to fall over. "It's hard to breathe in this."

"I know a corset is a bit painful dear, but it will give you a wonderful figure!"

 _Figure my ass!_

She was ten and already petite from malnutrition! What kind of figure could that torture instrument give her? It squashed her insides, and Tanya wouldn't be surprised if Helga managed to squeeze the breakfast out of her.

Taking pity on her Alberich could only plead for her sake, "Mrs. Helga, maybe you can loosen the corset? Tanya is already very slender, our training didn't help… also she is still young."

"But- dear… she should start now, it take more than one day to develop lovely figure."

"Tanya is still very young." Alberich repeated, "Also…" Looking at stubborn glint on the older woman's eyes, Alberich added. "Tanya is beautiful enough as she is to me, so it's fine." He beamed.

Tanya stared at him with widened eyes, ' _This woman… she starts to sound like playboy day by day-'_

'Helga's eyes softened, the women behind her also blushed and giggling. "If you say so dear, I will procure a more comfortable corset for Tanya to wear and… loosen it a bit."

Her glare at him was full of dissatisfaction. ' _I still have to wear that torture device in the end!'_

Hey, he got a compromise for her. Couldn't she be more grateful?

 **4th** **Day (Make-up)**

Alberich could recall a blurry memory from his past life of getting lipstick applied for a play back in grade school. All he could think was how uncomfortable it was to have such a substance on sensitive skin like his lips. Of course, ten years later lipstick and gloss were more comfortable when applied. Eyeliner and eyeshadow were barely felt when brushed on the eyelid, they just needed practice to put on. He wasn't so familiar with foundation and face powder because the woman he had been had always had a good complexion.

That was what he remembered of cosmetics from his past life.

"Tanya, mind your hand. You almost wiped off your lipstick."

Tanya looked pitiful, "I hate foundation and lipstick. Why do I have to put these dreaded thing on my face?"

"Because your face is too pale apparently. Just bear with it."

"You don't seem to be as miserable as I am!" He was as pale as her so he still got some powder and foundation applied to give himself a healthier complexion.

"Gee, Tanya… it's not so bad."

Her resentful gaze was uncalled for but remembering what Helga and co. had in store for Tanya tomorrow, he suppose he deserved it. Not to mention that she was distraught enough to not notice that he'd disappeared from the room for hours to work on something else today. Oh, well… she will find out on their last day anyway.

 **Last Day (Photoshoot)**

"Advancing will lead directly into hell, yet to retreat would bring annihilation." The young lieutenant spoke her dilemma out loud before the door of the Propaganda Department.

Her fellow mage sighed. He knew Tanya could be overly dramatic at times, but you would think they were about to take on the Republic Vanguard on their own instead of a photo-shoot session. "We arrived ten minutes early and wasted it all staring at the door." He would open the door himself but Tanya had been standing right in front of the door knob, blocking the way.

The young girl turned a deaf ear on him. "It's like a gate of no return where I have to leave my dignity and freedom behind."

"The corset isn't restraining your freedom, or crushing your insides. I have worn one in my past life, I would know." Of course, Alberich left out that modern corsets were much more comfortable. Or rather waist nipper barely count as corset. "Also, makeup won't destroy your dignity." There were many job back in the modern era that required both men and women to wear makeup.

"My unbending resolve shall forever be loyal towards my free will and dignity..." Tanya went on and on.

Alberich rolled his eyes, "Why don't you be resolved to finish this job as quickly as possible if it makes you so miserable?" He asked, arms crossed as Tanya made a show of taking a very deep breath. "Tanya, open the freaking door already or I will!"

She swallowed her saliva. Having resolved the feelings within her heart, Mage Second Lieutenant Tanya Degurechaff raised her hand to greet the incoming torture with the conviction of a soldier defending her Fatherland.

"Ah, you're here Tanya, Alberich!"

And here came the monster who had tortured her with brushes, corsets and lipstick over the last few days. "Can I run?"

"Like the last two times you asked, the answer is still no." Just what did Tanya want from him? His permission to cancel the job? Then again after one more ' _no'_ Tanya would resign herself to whatever Helga had in mind for her like she had the last few days.

"Before the photoshoot we have to make sure that the custom uniform fits dear Tanya! So come over here, honey!"

Tanya's eyes went wide. "Custom uniform?" Then her eyes went towards a child sized mannequin dressed in a white version of their uniform. She recognized it as modified military uniform only from the collar and iron cross. Everything else… it was a cross between a Japanese school uniform and their Imperial army uniform.

"Alberich- you- you-"

Apparently she hadn't been listening to the part were Helga wanted to use his design, or noticed his white ceremonial uniform from the day before. "I admit I am guilty for drawing it, but to be fair she didn't ask my consent about using my design."

Tanya's lips quirked up to a strained smile, "Who do you think you're trying to fool?! It's not like you'd put up any fight if she asked! It's bad enough I have to wear dresses and now you give that woman the idea to dress me up like a magical girl!" She hissed at him, "Al… YOU-"

Uh-oh, Tanya was about to snap. "Tanya, I will give you an apology in dogeza if you want but-" Albericht trailed off. "It's still our job to dress up and be the heroes the Empire wants!"

"YOU'RE subjecting me to _that_ \- and you dare talk about duty to _me_?! This is a breach of trust!"

Intentional or not, the custom white uniform was still his design and Tanya derided it as _that_. He wasn't going to pull a Schugel and rant like a madman for the perceived insult though. "Fine." He raised three fingers. "If you behave and wear that uniform, I will give you three days of my kill count bounty after you arrive in the Western Theater."

Tanya stopped her rant at that, and mentally calculated how much an ace mage would collect in the intense battlefields of Rhine in three days. "You're buying my dignity?"

"Take it or leave it." Alberich didn't let Tanya haggle, "It would leave us with a bad record if you put up to much resistance to Helga's plan anyway."

He'd caught her, and pushing any further would be her loss. "Fine! You promise me three days, and not a cent less!"

"Deal!" Alberich beamed, three days' worth of bounties seemed miniscule in comparison of getting Tanya into uniform he designed!

Helga seemed impatient and quickly dragged Tanya once again behind the partition to change clothes. He could overhear them as he put on his own custom uniform. "This is a brand new corset. Because Little Tanya had mentioned that it was hard to move in so this time I chose one that is more suited for outdoor activities. Now hurry and try it on."

Well, Helga had apparently not turned a deaf ear on her plight as promised, but if she could choose she'd rather not wear a corset at all. "Eeeek!" Tanya tried her best but the corset still drew out a painful squeak from her lips.

Alberich sweat dropped. "Oh, dear…"

"We can hear from all the way over here how hard it is to become a woman." The staff member assisting him joked.

Alberich scoffed mentally, ' _You don't know half of it, Sir.'_

"But then again, even the Argent will have to get used to this even on front line once she grows up, right?" The staff member polishing the brim of his cap said.

Al felt his stomach drop at that, ' _I will be the one who has to deal with her during puberty, won't I?'_

"Okay, you now look like a dashing hero you are, Sir."

Alberich took a look at his reflection in full length mirror, "We certainly can't march in Rhine's quagmires in all white like this." He joked.

The man who handed him his tipped cap chuckled softly, "Well, Sir. It would definitely be repainted in a new color once you're done with it."

In the background, Tanya was wrapped in cloth as the women descend with brush and spray to work on her hair. She looked like she wouldn't even care if Being-X appeared before them, she was so distraught. She almost missed the curling iron so close to her head, only becoming aware of it when the heat licked her skin.

"It will get in the way of my duty!" Somehow Tanya managed to wiggle her way out of the curling iron but Helga and the ladies weren't done with her.

Al was unsure what she meant by that. Then again, her normal straight hair was easier to take care of even with it's naturally curly tips. Tanya had enough trouble tying her usual hair neatly everyday, so curlier hair that tangled easier would be troubling indeed. Fortunately, Helga accepted that excuse and so Tanya's hair was left untouched by the curling iron.

Alberich hummed as he inspected the background carried in by the male staff with a trolley. Painted on it was a vivid twilight sky with the clouds dyed in the myriad warm hues of sunset. "Hm… It seems the cloudy sky in grey will work better for our first costume, this one's color is too bold." Originally, they had been planning to use flowers with a dark green background, but Alberich thought that the theme didn't fit this project. They quickly caved when he gave them new ideas.

"I see… the Imperial flag you're holding is red too, so maybe a subdued background will work better." The photographer had arrived and voiced his opinion.

"The flower art in nouveau style looks nice… but for us soldiers…"

Alberich spotted one he liked, another submission from the apprentice painter the department had asked for. It was a below average painting of the twin headed dragon from their flag. "This one gives me an idea! Can we take a photo outside, we have a twin headed dragon statue right?"

"Hm… we have to go through the other costumes first then! But for the finale when sun starts to set a photo would look very good!" The photographer looked giddy, imagining the masterpiece he was about to produce. "Do you bring your orb?! If you could fly, Second Lieutenant, it would be the best!"

"Yes, we do Sir."

"Can you lift me up as well?"

"Ye-"The redhead stopped his train of thought, "Eh, what?"

Later on, Tanya managed to go through half a dozen dresses and get her picture taken together with Alberich. The last costume, which was their new white uniforms made her cringe. She wanted to rip it off. In her past life, the maniac otaku types were the slackers she hated the most. Never had she imagined that she would have to wear something that made her look like she had walked out of a cosplay convention.

She was pretty confused when they didn't ask her and Alberich to pose in front of yet another custom backdrop, but ushered them out of the room and then out of the building. The sun would set in about an hour and the sky had dimmed, it was a beautiful evening as the reddening sun dyed their beautiful capital in a golden glow. Tanya however didn't feel like appreciating the scenery, standing in the open in her white uniform made her anxious.

"Tanya." Alberich called her out, "Stop pulling down your skirt. You might stretch or rip the fabric."

Tanya gritted her teeth, "It's so breezy… How could you do _this_ to me?"

"I'm not the one who decided that you'd have to wear it." He did feel sorry that she was wearing the short skirt in autumn, and so gave her his coat. Tanya hadn't carried hers, and they had the same size anyway.

It took awhile for the photographer to get his camera and equipment out to the square, "I'd like a photo in front of our Strategic HQ, but since our time is limited let's go up."

Tanya blinked owlishly at that, coat off and pulling her mantle closer to her. "Up, where?"

Alberich sighed and pointed the roof where a menacing looking twin headed dragon perched on top of their Strategic HQ building. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"I wish, they also got permission…"

"And how did we get up there?"

"We're mages?"

Tanya took no small amount of pleasure from watching the photographer struggle to keep his composure as Alberich lifted him up with telekinetic magic. The man had been a pain to work with because he couldn't be pleased by anything, including how she curved her lips! "Are you okay, Sir?" Tanya asked with feigned concern.

"I am a professional, Second Lieutenant!" He declared, "No matter what, I will keep my hand steady!"

Tanya had crossed her arms as she watched the photographer desperately keep his eyes locked on his models instead of down.

He frowned, "There's no wind now!" He looked deflated now that the flag Alberich was holding wouldn't fit his vision of a perfect picture. "Can you do something with magic so the flag will wave in a dramatic fashion?"

The young mages exchanged glances at that, "Well, we could but…"

Tanya looked gleeful, "When it comes to animation spells like telekinesis, Second Lieutenant Beilschmidt is better than I am! I am not very good at it but keeping you up in the air should be easier task for me, Sir."

The photographer paled at that, but then nodded in agreement. Tanya was sure the man almost lose control of his bowel when he was jerked a bit when the task of lifting him was passed from Alberich to her. "Erm… Miss Degurechaff, if you can keep me steady like before."

Mage's flight spell work by propelling themselves free of gravity, but in the process they had to keep their balance steady by themselves. They could have supported their whole body but that would waste mana so skilled mage would apply as little as possible lifting force in their body. Tanya had done so with the photographer.

"Apply the magic propulsion to his _whole_ body, Tanya."

"Okaaay… So that's what I did wrong, my apologies." Obviously Tanya knew, she was just being vindictive for all the trouble this photographer had given her today.

Eventually, once his whole body was steady in the air the photographer was ready to take the picture. "Okay, ready? One, two…"

Even as her eyes drifted across the beautiful view of Berun, all Tanya could think about was that pretending to be the patriot this country desired was a pain in the ass. But a job was a job. Alberich raised the Empire's flag as the both of them stood protectively by the statue's side. The view of Berun from their Strategic HQ would in theory send the message that the Imperial Army would always stand tall to protect their country.

A load of bullshit. Alberich didn't fare any better than her in this part of the job because they had to introduce themselves by their dreaded Second Name. When fictional characters introduced themselves in such a way it was very cool, but saying this kind of line yourself? Nationally awarded heroes or not it was embarrassing. So-

 _ **Kill myself-**_

 _ **Pull your lips to a smile-**_

 _ **and get this humiliation over with!**_

With this resolution in their hearts, the Silver Winged Pair smiled at the camera and beamed in harmony.

" **Nice to meet you, I am-"**

-Tanya Degurechaff the Argent!"

-Alberich Beilschmidt the Paladin!"

"And we are the Silver Wings of the Empire!"

* * *

 **Sorry for the delay but RL is an obstacle for online life everywhere lmao**

 **As promised, a funny chapter... well a tragic one for Tanya. Considering Al is my self-inset I feel I am dying a little at the end of this chapter.  
So... I have lots of bad news,  
1\. My laptop is dead, and now I need a new one that can handle 3 D max  
2\. My illustration for this chapter is half-done and won't be done for a long while  
3\. I am broke until I get my first salary. **

**Good news  
1\. My S pass I work so hard to get like pulling teeth would be sent tomorrow  
2\. I am promoted to wikia admin, I usually dwell on magic related terminology in YS wikia so for those who get inspired to write YS fanfic. Make sure to check wikia to give you all better picture of YS world. We're working hard to build a good wiki ATM and will be combing bad information from our site.  
3\. I am few chapters ahead, so no worries running out of juice for a looong while. **

**If anyone have recommendation for new laptop drop me a PM**

 **Wish you all belated Happy CNY for those who care about the occasion.**


	18. 17th Record

****ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ**** ** ** **ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ  
**** 17th Record**  
 **They Who Bring the Scent of War  
** ** **ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ**** **ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ**

Tanya didn't have the slightest regret that her temporary break in concentration caused the photographer to flip over in the air as soon as the photo was taken.

"You can be so petty…" Alberich grumbled as Tanya smirked at the sight of their difficult photographer slumped on the ground in terror.

"Hmph." She grunted, "By the way Al-"

"Yes?"

"That corny line we repeated over and over again today? That never happened, understood?"

He nodded resolutely, "I wish there was a spell to bleach the brain. Maybe there is, but I am afraid that such a delicate neural interference spell could cause too much damage to the human brain."

"Indeed, even if we can use magic to influence our body, trying to remove memories on purpose is too dangerous. We could accidentally induce Anterograde amnesia…" That would be a fatal blow to their career if that happened.

"Soap operas make amnesia seem like a minor thing, but it's still brain damage after all." And it couldn't be anything but a bad thing.

Tanya huffed, "I need to get out of these damned clothes first before I look at myself and cause brain damage anyway!"

"How rude." That was still something he had designed for her!

Tanya rushed to change her clothes, unaware that Alberich had gone to Helga behind her back and asked for extra copies of Tanya's photos. It was unlikely he could get her in a dress again in the future so he wanted some keepsakes.

 _'Aaah… Tanya is so cute.'_ He sighed wistfully. _'Her looks, not the inside... Never the inside.'_

"Alberich, dear?"

He had just finished putting on his usual uniform when he heard Helga calling him. "Yes Ma'am?"

"There's a telegram for you, it's from… First Lieutenant Schwarzkopf."

"From my squadron commander?" He asked with a frown, his train to Rhine was tomorrow afternoon so why a telegram now of all times? "Thank you, Ma'am."

She smiled back, "You're welcome dear, Tanya still needs time to clean up her makeup. So wait for a while."

Did she just assume Alberich would escort Tanya all the way back to Cruscos while he was staying on the other side of Berun? "Oh, alright." However, as hero of the Empire he had an image to keep so he just let her assume whatever she wanted. 'Aah… why did it have to be Paladin?'

A glance at his surroundings didn't reveal any onlookers so he opened the telegram. The message was short and blunt.

'Commander Krause passed away the day after you transferred to Central. You are now the leader of Flight Two.'

Alberich felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. No news was good news, he had hoped since no one told him that everyone was fine. If he had to become national hero, at the very least he should really have saved his comrades. Yet, he failed and someone died. That was reality.

Why did this happen?

 _'His wife is sickly and with Krause gone… his son…'_

This wasn't fair! Commander Krause was-

"Al!"

His name snapped Alberich out of his thought, "Ta… Tanya?"

The little girl was sitting beside him in the backseat of a MP's car loaned to them to drop them to their respective post. "I have been talking to myself like an idiot for the last five minutes, are you paying attention?"

"No, I was… distracted."

Tanya crossed her arms, thankful that this type of car had the front and back seats separated by a partition. No wonder, these vehicles were sometimes used to cater for the upper brass so privacy was a necessity. "So your flight leader died, get over it. This is war…" Her icy blue eyes pinned his, daring him to object. "More people will die, so you should prepare to attend the funerals of your closest comrades at any the time…"

"I… still can't believe it. He was-"

"Grieving is a luxury." Tanya stated coldly, "Don't get attached, even if it's to the idiot duo Ludwig and Wolfgang."

There was a good reason that, even though they had been roommates for quite a while, Alberich had never addressed them familiarly, "I know…"

Her eyes narrowed, "It's for your own good… we grew up peacefully in our past life. It's not like we can flip our mindset to accept the cruelties of war." The Humanity of this era had not learned the true terror of trench warfare, still trapped in the foolish romanticism of patriotism and chivalry. "However, keep in mind that if you let this war break you that bastard will win."

Alberich clenched his fist at the reminder, "I am not going to let Him get what He wants."

Something akin to amusement flickered in her eyes, a smirk painting itself across her lips. "Civilization survived two World Wars. We know we're not going to lose here." She pointed at him, "So remember… survival is our hope and success shall be our revenge."

"Of course."

"And if you forget…" As Tanya trailed off her voice dropped into an icy whisper, enunciating that she meant every word she said. "I'll kill you myself." Her pupils dilated and her smile was like that of a devil as she uttered her last line.

Her eyes sent a shiver up his spine, and a tendril of fear danced behind his eyes for a moment before it was replaced by an indescribable feeling that sent a thrill of excitement through Al's whole body. It was the same feeling of refreshment he remembered from his old life whenever his parents would call in concern after ambling and exhausting day at work.

So Alberich threw his back head back and laughed without restraint, "Sure! It's a deal!" Where did his sanity go that made Tanya's threat upon his life fill him with joy rather than dread? But he couldn't bring himself to care. This was the real him now.

He was Alberich Beilschmidt.

* * *

 **The Orphanage, United Year 1924**

Sister Anna looked at her nephew, Hart, who once again pushed his food away and let the younger kids share it among themselves. He had just lost his father, and Anna had to bring him back with her because his mother was in hospital and in no condition to take care of him. "You have to eat, Hart… I know it's not my sister's cooking but-"

"I'm not going to eat, Aunty Anna! I said that I want to volunteer to be a soldier! Father's passed away so I have to-"

Anna gritted her teeth in frustration, "That's enough Hart! I don't want to listen to anymore of that nonsense! You're twelve, just a child! The battlefield is not a place for you!"

"But Penelope said there were kids younger than me who volunteered two years ago!" He protested, "Why can they, but I can't?!"

Pain gripped her heart when she recalled the pair, taken away by the military because of their magical talent. "Hart, go clean your room! I will see if the kitchen has any leftovers that you can eat!" Hart looked at her somberly, as if she had wronged him, before walking away to do his chore.

Hart had used to be an obedient child, but since his father's death he had become obsessed with the idea of continuing the fight in his father's place. Anna knew that wasn't the whole truth, and that Hart was deeply hurt by her brother-in-law's death and sought revenge.

Such a foolish thought, vengeance would bring nothing but ruin to someone as young as Hart. If by chance Hart manage to find the enemy soldier responsible for killing his father, what then? Her brother-in-law had been a veteran aerial mage but he had been killed during the Republic's offensive.

Hart had always wanted to be a soldier, and had been examined for magical aptitude before. Unlike his father however, Hart only had D tank magical aptitude which disqualified him from being an aerial mage. This hadn't deterred Hart because there were plenty of other positions in the army that didn't require high magical abilities.

Anna had used to think that it was adorable how Hart wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, but with war in both the West and North his aspiration was hurting both her and her sister.

"Sister Anna…"

It was one of newer nun that called her, she recalled her name was Ignatine. "Yes, Sister Ignatine?"

"Sister Petronella said there's a call from Imperial Army office."

She couldn't help but frown, she never had good impression whenever the army said they had business in their orphanage. "Another visit?"

"Yes, but… it's not for business." Sister Ignatine said nervously, obviously sensing Anna's ire. "It's just part of their protocol even if it's private matter… so-"

That was a first, Anna knew it was required of the army to inform them beforehand if they officers plan to visit the orphanage. However never she imagine there would be a call that officers would visit for private purpose, and went through this trouble to not alarm them.

"When?"

"It seems the officers are already on their way." No wonder Sister Ignatine looked flustered, she had received military men before but never this abrupt. "What should we do?"

Anna sighed, "Stay calm… and please keep an eye on Hart for me."

Sister Ignatine nodded, she understood why Anna wanted Hart to be kept away from the soldiers. She had already lost a pair of children to the army, Anna would rather Hart not to be the next one.

"Sister?"

The head nun was already at the front door and a car with the Imperial Army insignia pulled over. The driver was a military policeman who quickly alighted from his driver seat to open the back door. However his passengers were faster and the MP was left awkwardly waiting by the car, saluting his two higher ranked passengers.

They were faces she knew. Anna gasped when the boy that used to play the piano in the church with her came forward with an equally familiar blond girl. "Good Morning, Sister Petronella, Sister Anna. It's been a while." They chorused.

"Alberich! Tanya!" Anna couldn't contain herself. Even though she always acted reserved and somewhat aloof around the children she had always had a soft spot for AlberichP and Tanya. So she pulled them into an embrace, and as always Alberich stiffened before returning the gesture while Tanya stays very still and waited for Anna released her.

When they had lived here the two children in front of her had always smelt clean, unlike the rest of the orphanage children. Unsurprisingly there was now the scent of better quality soap than the one used in orphanage mixed in. It had always surprised Anna how well these two had groomed themselves. Ever since they were young, Alberich and Tanya had always done their best to draw water from the well and wipe their bodies with damp cloths. They were often called clean freaks by other children, but Tanya and Alberich hadn't been fazed.

She was relieved that becoming a soldier had not changed this.

As soon as Anna released them, Sister Petronella was quick to usher the pair to the dining hall. It was empty; the children out with the rest of the sisters to do the chores, so they had all privacy they needed. Anna could feel her eyes grow misty at the sight of Alberich and Tanya. She had missed them, but had conflicting feeling about the uniform they now wore. They were a pair of beautiful children, and she knew they would look good in anything but the dark green uniform of the Imperial Army…

 _'It shouldn't fit them so well…'_

Anna was awoken from her musing when Alberich brought out the gifts he had prepared, an assortment of jams and tea leaves. The jam was for the children: Alberich remembered how they had often craved for sweets, and jam was the next best thing to make their bread taste better. The tea leaves were for the sisters, a little taste of luxury to treat themselves from time to time.

"I wasn't sure what to bring, but I hope to make up for the inconvenient way Tanya and I arrived just now." As always, he was quick to be apologetic and overly polite.

Tanya then admonished Alberich. "It's a part of the regulations, Al. If we come in uniform, even if it's for private business, we have to notify Sister Petronella first and be escorted by car." That part of her hadn't changed either.

Still an inseparable pair.

"I know but…" He trailed off, "And I am sorry for asking you to keep this visit from the others."

"We don't have time for you to be swarmed by the kids." Tanya said in annoyed tone. "And I didn't come here to listen to their screaming. Someone I've worked with never did get a handle on controlling his voice even though he's already in his fifties."

"Tanya… please don't compare the children to that man." Alberich scolded before realizing they weren't alone. "We really are sorry for the abrupt visit…"

"It's fine, dear. I just wish you came sooner and more often. We haven't seen you since you decided to leave." There was a hint of hurt in her voice that she couldn't conceal.

Tanya's expression didn't change. It didn't surprise Anna that Tanya didn't see any merit in visiting the old orphanage. Alberich on the other hand just smiled thinly. "Well… this is our rare day off while we're in Berun."

"Eh?"

The girl beside him sighed at Alberich, "They don't get the newspaper here unless they go to town to buy some, remember? There's no way Sister Anna and Petronella would know where we were."

"Ah, right…" Alberich blushed sheepishly, "I was posted since graduation in Rhine, you see… while Tanya…" He trailed off, glancing at her as a signal for her to speak up.

Tanya reluctantly continued. "My deployment training was in Norden, and while my current post is Central… due to confidential reasons I only got half a day off today." She glanced at Alberich, "Also, it's not Al's day off considering that his train back to Rhine is this afternoon."

Anna was taken aback by the latest bit of news. "Rhine?! But that's the most intense frontline right now!" Everyone knew war had broken out in the west with the Republic, and her brother-in-law died there. "This is outrageous! How could they send you there?! Could it be for office work?" Anna was hopeful that Alberich wasn't there to fight, he was a smart boy so he could be a CP staff member or some other safer posting.

"Sister Anna…" Alberich's tone had changed and suddenly she felt like she didn't know the boy at all. "We're soldiers, we will be deployed to wherever Fatherland needs us."

"This is the choice we made." Tanya joined in, her voice even colder. "Perhaps we are just children in your eyes, but nonetheless fully committed soldiers in our glorious army."

Those words were the same as the ones Tanya had spoken to her when she and Alberich had decided to leave. They didn't have to say it. She knew that she didn't have the right to deny them. "But…" She swallowed, "My brother-in-law was a veteran Mage, and he was killed in action over Rhine. How could I stomach the idea of you going there too?" What if he never returned alive, instead in casket like her sister's husband? "War isn't as glorious as it says in fairy tales…"

Boys, dreaming of war, played with sticks and pretended that they were guns. It was a familiar sight to Anna and she never thought much about it until her brother-in-law's death tore his family apart. Ever since she had scolded the boys whenever they played their mock wars, as unreasonable as it was she wanted them to not dream of bloodshed. It was such an evil thing.

Why did God put them through this trial?

Alberich just smiled at that, "War is evil and pointless indeed. It's a wonder that God even allows it to exist."

She froze, she had never heard Alberich use God's name in such a mocking tone. Her instinctive response was to reprimand him but the hardened look in his verdant eyes stopped her. "Al dear… what happened?"

Tanya was the one answering, "War happened? You're free to judge us, but to those who have already stained their hands with blood defending the Fatherland it's a question of 'Why…'" She trailed off in feigned wonder. "Why did He allow this tragedy to happen?" Tanya said it in questioning tone, but at the same time it didn't sound like she was expecting an answer, "However, in the end it doesn't matter."

Anna looked at Tanya sadly, she had always had this displeased look on her face whenever she played music in Church. Then again, after so much hardship in life during her early years Anna thought it was normal for Tanya to think that her Father in Heaven was unfair to her. "Oh, Tanya…"

"Tanya!" Alberich hissed.

"I'm just being honest." She crisply replied.

Sister Petronella would reprimand Tanya if she was any other girl, but she felt it would fall on deaf ears on a soldier. "It's fine, dear…" It wasn't the first time she had heard cynical words about God from hardened soldiers.

Anna cupped her cheek, disheartened when she saw Alberich being scolded by Tanya. Whenever they did this she couldn't help but feel that every strange behavior Tanya or Alberich expressed was unique to them, as if the nuns had never raised them. Raising children from a baby was very much like painting on a blank canvas, one where their guardians painted their own strokes and colors and gave parts of themselves to the children they nurtured. On the other hand, Anna couldn't see any part of herself in either Alberich or Tanya. It was as if they had never been a blank canvas and had painted new colors on each other instead.

"Our Lord once told his disciples a story." Sister Petronella began, "The owner of a vineyard was looking for laborers to harvest his grapes." This was a familiar parable to Anna and one of her favorites. It taught people to not feel ungrateful of the blessings the Lord gave them, as He was fair and just. But, by the end of the story Anna realized that Tanya's eyes were unfocused. Alberich was still paying attention but there was a pained look in his eyes, along with something else she couldn't decipher.

"Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?" Sister Petronella concluded, "God grants his blessings to everyone he invites into his vineyard, however… he hasn't wronged those of us who've faced harder trials in life. We all-"

Alberich shook his head, "Sister Petronella, with all due respect… I am not complaining about the hardships we suffer while doing our duty as soldiers." He paused, "I won't lie and say that I've never wished for more than the one silver coin He's allotted me, but I'd never resent Him for not giving more."

He looked straight at them and for the first time. Instead of the obedient and quiet child she had always known, Anna felt like she had begun to see this boy for who he truly was. Alberich, young as he was, had been abandoned by his both biological and adopted parents. Of course he would wish for a better life. Every child in the orphanage wanted new toys, new clothes, delicious food to fill their belly and, of course, a family.

Not once had Alberich or Tanya ever shared a dream or wish with them.

His eyes narrowed, "However… I have seen war, and I can't help but wonder what His grand plan for us is. Is our enemy evil? No, just like my comrades they're following orders in order to protect their country. We don't resent each other, and both sides yearn for God to deliver their country and themselves from harm…"

"Alberich…" Just what had this child seen on the battlefield?

"I've survived…" His usually warm and verdant eyes gained icy hue. "Is it because He loves me more than the enemy soldiers I killed?" Her blood ran cold when Alberich said that he had killed. "Did the comrades I failed to save not pray enough? Is that what they deserved?" Alberich was smiling at them now, but his eyes remained cold. "This question will remain unanswered, but-"

Tanya was the one who finished his sentence, "There's simply no place for God on the battlefield." She said this as if she abhorred the idea of God in war, for what reason Anna had no idea but she found herself speechless.

Silence fell in the room as Anna searched for words. She wanted to say that they were wrong! God existed in the hell called war to offer salvation. Her tongue was numb when she recalled that both Alberich and Tanya had killed, they were no longer innocent children but soldiers of the Empire like her brother-in-law had been. Perhaps her mind was playing a trick on her but her nostrils flared as she perceived the acrid and sour scent of gunpowder mixed with vile pungence of blood.

This was the scent of war and bloodshed.

Sister Petronella began to speak in a soothing voice, assuring them that God was merciful and that Tanya shouldn't say such things. Tanya stood up abruptly, interjecting Sister Petronella's words. "With all due respect… I am not here for a sermon. Al made me come and I complied because I owe this orphanage for taking care of us. If that's all? I have a meeting in two hours in another part of Berun. So if you'll excuse me…"

"Tanya, wait!" Alberich stood up, "I am not done-"

"Then finish your business quickly." Tanya snapped at him, "In case you forgot, your train leaves at-"

The sound of rapid footsteps interrupted her and the door burst open, and only her quick reflexes saved her from being hit in the face. Anna was surprised to see the perpetrator was her nephew, Hart, and he looked panicked. "An officer from the army came? Did they come to recruit-"

"You should learn to knock first." Someone interrupted him, "Such terrible manners will get you in trouble with your superiors."

"Huh?"

That was when he caught sight of a young girl in a soldier uniform glaring heatedly at him. Hart's cheeks grew red, and not from guilt and Anna couldn't help but smile a little at this. Hart was at the age where he already saw the opposite sex in a different light. Tanya was a beautiful young girl with intense azure eyes and her mature personality made her stand out amongst the girls Hart had met, so it came as no surprise to Anna that Hart was smitten at first sight.

Anna turned her attention to Alberich, sighing when she saw the amused glint in his eyes and a small smile on his lips. _'He never feels threatened by the other boys around Tanya, that part of him hasn't changed either.'_

She wondered where Alberich's confidence regarding Tanya came from. They had become inseparable out of the blue when they were four and Anna and other nuns had never found out why. Then again, while Hart was quite a handsome boy with curly, charcoal hair, healthy tanned skin and blue eyes, Alberich had always been more of a charmer with his dimpled smile and warm, verdant eyes.

"Hart." Anna called her nephew out of his daze, "Where's your apology?"

He stammered, "I am… so sorry, I was in a hurry."

Alberich's expression changed, "Hart?" He echoed. "Reinhart Krause?"

Anna and her nephew were surprised to hear Hart's full name from Alberich's lips. "Yes? How do you know me?" His eyes widened at the uniform the younger boy wore. "Sir?" He added unsurely.

Tanya scoffed, "Good for you Al, you found the right boy quickly." She walked back to Alberich, ignoring another stammered apology from Hart. "Though he seems to have mistaken our reason for coming."

Alberich stepped forward and even though he was shorter than Hart Anna could see her nephew was becoming nervous due to the uniform and sudden turn of events. "I am Second Lieutenant Alberich Beilschmidt of the Imperial Army. Nice to meet you, Reinhart." He saluted crisply.

Hart returned the salute timidly, his action slow unlike Alberich's swift one. "It's my pleasure, Sir!" His mind began to whirl at the fact that someone younger than him held the same rank as his father.

"I am part of the 205th Mage Squadron of the Western Theater under First Lieutenant Iren Schwarzkopf, and I was your father's wingman." His voice was even but the weight made Anna tremble with grief and disbelief.

 _'My brother-in-law was… Alberich's partner?'_

"He was… a good and caring commander, I learned a lot under his tutelage… It's my deepest regret that I couldn't save him."

Anna's eyes widened, recalling what Alberich had said. _'So one of his comrades was…'_

Hart's eyes became misty and his body shook. "None… of my father's comrades… could attend his funeral…" He choked out, knowing that the Rhine still needed to be defended from invaders. "How did he die…?"

His voice was tiny but Alberich could hear him clearly, "He was protecting the younger members of his flight. We were ordered to stop the enemy's artillery unit. He fought bravely with just three flight members against eighteen enemy mages." The young soldier bowed his head, "I got the others to evacuate him from the battlefield but… he lost too much blood and mana… I am so sorry."

"He…" Hart choked out, "He is a hero."

"Yes, Commander Krause is a hero."

Hart wiped his tears hastily, "I… I can't forgive the Republic for invading the Fatherland, I want to fight too! I will fight in my father's place!"

Anna snapped, "Hart! Don't speak of this anymore! You're not going anywhere, and certainly not to avenge your father!"

"But Aunt Anna! I can't sit idly by while my father's comrades are fighting!" He pointed at Alberich. "He is fighting, and so can I!"

Anna ground her teeth, "Alberich is…" She would never allow him to go either if she could prevent it!

"Hart, dear…" Sister Petronella joined in, "What could you do in battlefield? Think of your sick mother! If you went to war too…"

"But-"

Suddenly a cold voice cut them all off, halting their argument. "Just what do you seek on the battlefield, Reinhart Johann Krause?" It was Alberich, his voice sounded nothing like the regretful and apologetic soldier from before. "Is it revenge?"

Hart wanted to deny it but the cold look from the younger boy scared him. "I just can't… if his killer is still…"

"Would it sate your thirst for vengeance if I told you that I have personally killed your father's killer?" Alberich asked him evenly.

"You…"

"Also… your father's body was intact when he was put to rest…" Alberich trailed off, "Your father's killer on the other hand- if his comrades manage to gather enough of it- is in pieces…" His eyes shimmered with something the others couldn't comprehend. "Or perhaps- it rots in Rhine's muddy ground with the rest of his squadron members, feeding the crows…"

Anna's legs became weak as the fact that the boy before her had taken a life to defend the Fatherland struck home.

"There's no debt for you to pay left in Rhine… and you shouldn't have any against the Republic either." Alberich continued, "Perhaps it's hard for you to understand now… but your father never begrudged the man who killed him."

Hart was shaken but also confused, "Why? I don't…"

Tanya who had been quiet sighed before speaking up, "The relationship we have with the enemy soldiers is kill or to be killed." She made shooting motion with her fingers and slit to finger her neck. "That's all there is to it. There's nothing personal that would make us hate each other…"

Alberich nodded, his expression solemn. "Both your father and the enemy were simply soldiers who fought and killed to defend their homeland. There's no evil to slay in battlefield… but the war itself."

Hart glared at him, "I don't understand? Does any of this give you right to stop me from fighting for my country like my father did?"

The young soldier shook his head, "No, I suppose not… but are you prepared?" His hand rested on his chest where a gleaming medal could be seen. "Day by day you will kill strangers who hold no hatred against you, just doing their duty to defend their country. And when your comrades are killed, killed by your enemy, as long as you complete the mission you're rewarded with medals…"

Hart gulped, and only now took a good look at what medal decorated Alberich's uniform. He had been awed and envious when he had noticed that the younger boy was a decorated soldier, but now he was torn when he recognized the medal. His father had taught him many things about the soldier life, including what medals and Second Names meant.

What the silver falcon meant.

"If you decide you still want to fight, then by all means..." He swept his hand as if clearing a metaphorical obstacle away. "But unlike me… you still have a family. Why would you throw them away for the sake of glory in battle?" Alberich asked as he walked past the stunned Hart. "As you can see… even the highest honor in our glorious army cannot replace your father's life…"

Tanya followed him few steps behind, "I suppose this conclude our business here today."

Alberich turned as he was right by the door. "On behalf of the 205th Squadron, I express our condolences for the passing of our comrades and leader… Captain Armin Hariman Krause."

To honor him, her brother had been promoted in death. "Thank you…" Her numb tongue could only respond with empty gratitude.

Alberich and Tanya left. Sister Petronella awkwardly escorted them out as she was unsure how to treat them now. Sister Anna didn't blame her, she didn't know what to think of the two child soldiers either. She hated what the war had done to them, but when Hart's hand tightened around hers as the boy broke down in tears she could only feel grateful.

Because they had seen the true face of war she could keep her nephew with her.

On that day Anna had a premonition that Tanya and Alberich would never return to visit them ever again.

* * *

 **Berun Train Station**

The train had just arrived and Alberich was walking alongside the platform's edge leisurely with Tanya. "I didn't know you had it in you to be so harsh…" Tanya said to him. "You usually pretty lenient with kids, even the most annoying ones."

Alberich let out a long suffering sigh, "I have little tolerance for idiots. So he lost his father, he still has his mother and Sister Anna but he wants to volunteer for this job." He grunted, "What does he think he can achieve even if he did volunteer? It pisses me off."

Tanya smirked, "Maa… your commander painted the life as a soldier in a romantic light."

"Like every proud father does…" He shrugged, "However like any good father he also would be a hypocrite who wouldn't want to see his son in uniform during a war." His squadron commander had respected him as student and capable subordinate, but Commander Krause had sometimes acted like a father figure too. "This is the least I can do for him."

She scoffed, "You know that you owe your commander nothing. If he chose to die for you it was of his own free will." Just like Alberich would for her.

He couldn't help but chuckle softly at that, "So cold. That's just like you." He hopped into the train, "I will see you later in Rhine."

Tanya smirked at that, "It could be a while until I am free from Schugel, so in the meantime survival your all."

That was a matter of course. "You don't have to tell me, I still remember my promise to you. That I-"

"Shut up! Don't repeat that embarrassing and misleading promise of yours!" Tanya roared.

For some reason Tanya never wanted to hear that promise ever again and always interrupted whenever he spoke of it in her presence. "I get it-I get it…" He said, waving as he disappeared inside the train.

Tanya watched the train moving forward, further and further to the west where the sun was setting. While she didn't believe in any superstitions, she had read some stories and learned about what an ominous direction West was. It was believed that the West was where the gate to the Underworld lay, and it wasn't too far off considering that an all out war between two Great Powers was a bloody Hell on Earth.

Even so… they would survive at all costs and show Being X that they weren't so weak as to succumb to his bullshit!

They would survive.

* * *

 **Hi, long time no see! This chapter is presented to you by Forlorn Storyteller, and edited by Brazerancor!  
Anyway~ I am getting pretty busy lately and well- barely find time to squeeze in fanfic writing and also redrawing for Silver Wings Scan. It's all unpaid job but I enjoy giving some contribution to our fandom ^^/  
In this chapter, as you can see we have an interlude to Rhine Arc. Sorry if you expect to see Visha already m(_ _)m I swear she exist in this universe! **  
**Thank you for reading, and please drop a review of what you think about this chapter ^^ and see you in next chapter.**


	19. 18th Record

======================================== **  
17th Record  
Paladin's Welcome**

 _Humanity had always been a political animal, and the advancement of civilization hadn't changed this fact at all. In the wild the weak offspring would be pushed aside so the mother could raise the stronger ones. The leader of the pack would be replaced by the younger, stronger pack members. The females looking to mate would pick only the most competent and desirable of males. Humanity was just more complicated in their political game, but at its core it was all about power._

 _In his past life it was status and wealth that had saved himself and his siblings from persecution at school._ _Money, and their connections with the local authorities, could force even the unwilling faculty members to shut up and bear with the autistic children they really didn't want to deal with. It was just another form of legal blackmail._

 _This life was no different. Once they had volunteered they automatically became part of the Army's Elite. In any society, humans would give preferential treatment to those who validated the same ideals. Hence, even in a meritocracy like the Imperial Army the upper brass would treat the volunteers better._

 _For the candidates of the Officer Cadet School aligning with strong or like-minded individuals was of the utmost importance._

 _Tanya Degurechaff presented herself as the ideal soldier, an aloof existence that purely existed for the sake of the country. She didn't make friends, and treated all her classmates equally regardless of their background. She also made sure to not offend anyone by upholding the philosophy of meritocracy higher than anyone. Hence she successfully carved out an image admired by everyone and gained their favor regardless of their class and political affiliations._

 _Alberich Beilschmidt was of course the exception, as his position as Tanya's childhood friend was unique. He had no clue how to bring himself into the political game and would rather not have been involved in the first place. His high magical talent solved most of the underlying problems of Major Einzbern taking him under his wing so he secured a good social standing within the class without the need of cozying up to anyone._

 _However, Major Einzbern's interference wasn't the only reason. Two of Alberich's roommates had special backgrounds, and apparently his being for all intents and purposes a child tickled the parental or brotherly instincts of the other soldiers-to-be._

 _The first was Adam Wolfgang, a commoner who had quickly taken the role of older brother without asking for his permission._

 _The second was Sullivan von Ludwig. Someone whose name alone suggested nobility, and if one noted how careful the other nobles acted around him a highly ranked one at that._

 _Of course Tanya was the one who had delivered this analysis to Alberich, since when it came to politics he was as blind as a bat. Ludwig's brash personality had almost made it impossible for Alberich to tell that he was supposed to be a refined young master from a noble family. It didn't help that as soon as Alberich had established himself as a highly talented mage Ludwig had, without a thought about the age difference, set himself up as the rival of 'The best combat mage in class.' He, of course, conveniently forgot about Tanya, with was just a little bit sexist._

 _Meritocracy or not the Imperial Army still only had a few ideas about the concept of gender equality._

" _Ludwig, why are you competing with a kid?"_

" _I'm competing with everyone! Once I set myself on a goal I will stop at nothing to achieve it; it's the Ludwig family philosophy!"_

" _I never heard that one before… and my family has-"_

" _Quiet you!" Ludwig snarled, "So, let's compete for the top spot Beilschmidt."_

 _Alberich wondered where this shonen like plot coming from, and what reason he had to accept this challenge? "Erm… let's do our best?"_

 _For the record, while Ludwig was a talented combatant, he didn't have any particular talent in inventing or modifying spell_ formula. _Even if he had the upper hand in direct combat against Alberich he never felt like he had truly proven to be better. On Alberich's side; it was getting tiring to have someone so intent on beating you, and he wondered if he should risk offending Ludwig by forfeiting in order to escape the one-sided rivalry._

 _Tanya had stopped him._

" _Don't you dare! As troublesome as it is, Ludwig is trying to make friends with you."_

" _Can I… just not be friends with him?" It wasn't like Tanya had a favorable impression of Ludwig either. He seemed to be a troublesome person to befriend._

 _She narrowed her icy blue eyes, her lips pulled to a sinister smirk. "I did some digging… it seems he shares a family name with the current Chief of Staff."_

 _So that was why. "Why didn't you approach him yourself then?" He asked resentfully._

" _Idiot. He has to keep his guard up at all times in case someone important suspects nepotism is at play." Tanya pointed out. "Ludwig acts like an idiot sometimes but if his rank in our class is accurate he isn't one. You didn't notice he has almost no friends?" Tanya was sure that if Ludwig wanted he could have been a very popular guy. "Yet… he sticks to only Wolfgang, and wastes his effort on you." Whether Ludwig's intentions were friendship or a rivalry it was still a blow to be told that someone was wasting their effort on him. "So let him be?"_

" _Yeah. If anything your indifference to his status pleases him."_

 _More like he had no idea. "Oh okay, so I didn't have to do anything. That's good!"_

 _Tanya groaned, "I've never met someone who dislikes socialising as much as you." Alberich wasn't a total social cripple like a hikikomori from back in the modern world, and was at least good at polite conversation. However the politeness was merely a shield to avoid troublesome social interaction._

" _I don't really like people in the first place."_

 _So he let Wolfgang and Ludwig be his tentative friends. It was just less troublesome that way._

* * *

 **Rhine Front, Western Army HQ**

His commander informed him that his posting would be moved to the rear for a while. That was the most pleasant news he had received since he stepped off the train train all depressed at the thought of a flea infested trench. "Why?" The change in the situation was to his benefit, but usually this kind of good fortune had a catch.

Schwarzkopf sighed, "It's just for a few days. If an emergency comes up you will be deployed, but for now just wait for your assignment."

From what he knew they still had enough members to operate as squadron, so this arrangement didn't make much sense. "Did something else happen?"

"Well…" If he was still just a kid Schwarzkopf wouldn't want Alberich to know too much. However, this was no longer a rookie standing before him but a national hero. "It has something to do with your classmates."

Came to think of it, he hadn't seen them in their tent. "Ludwig and Wolfgang?"

Schwarzkopf's facial lines deepened, and Alberich wondered if it was just him or if his commander had visibly aged since the last time they had met. "The major offensive in Norden was deemed a strategic mistake, and those amongst the General Staff who were responsible have been asked to take responsibility."

Alberich gritted his teeth at that, "Ludwig… he-"

"Second Lieutenant Ludwig's grandfather… Harriman von Ludwig was the Chief of General Staff who advocated the major offensive to the North."

In short, Ludwig's grandfather was the idiot who had caused this whole two-front war.

"Uh-"

It was not an eloquent response, and he could feel his left eye twitching at the thought of the potential mess Ludwig's presence alone could cause. The guy had nothing to do with his grandfather's stupid decision, but he would still be subjected to social punishment all the same.

"Well. We might have to be prepared to not see Second Lieutenant Ludwig and Wolfgang back with us."

Because Ludwig's family had fallen from grace, if he stayed he would face persecution from their peers. He wouldn't blame them if they chose to resign now, no one would stay in a hostile environment if they had a choice.

"Beilschmidt." Schwarzkopf called out to the silent boy. "You will be the commander of the Second Flight from now on."

He wanted to protest, he didn't want to lead. However with his current status this assignment was expected. "Yes, Sir." It was not up for discussion, an order from above that he couldn't refuse.

Schwarzkopf felt regretful, as it was not acceptance he heard but resignment from the boy. "As for Ludwig and Wolfgang… if they come back…"

His unspoken question was heard loud and clear. "...It would be fine by me, Sir. They're my comrades." He wouldn't reject them even if he should. He didn't do this out of kindness, it was simply because he was already familiar with them. Besides… he knew how it felt to be rejected by others. "Their reputation is no concern of mine."

Besides, with his status as a national hero he should be fine right? It seemed like he had neglected something though…

* * *

 **A Few Days Later…**

Alberich was in the mess when Ludwig returned, Wolfgang in tow. His head low, Ludwig tried to not meet anyone's eyes as he rushed to where Alberich was sitting. The boy had just finished his breakfast and caught sight of his approaching flight members from the corner of his eyes.

"Flight Commander…" Ludwig saluted him, his eyes looking at anywhere but Alberich.

Alberich was about to reply when people around them started chattering, sending baleful looks in Ludwig's direction.

' _He has the nerve to come back after his grandfather was dishonorably dismissed from the Imperial Army?'_

' _Not to mention he is still placed under the Paladin!'_

' _Didn't Beilschmidt nearly die while he ran away to save his own ass?'_

' _Shameless!' ._

Alberich froze. He had wondered how his heroic exploits was interpreted by his fellow soldiers. Tanya's last stand had depicted her as self-sacrificing hero who held her ground and defended the Fatherland in the face of adversity. It was no wonder really, Tanya had fought fiercely to the point that her limbs were shot full of holes, taking their enemies down with her.

It was perfectly staged, no one suspected Tanya of making a grand escape. Of course, it helped that everyone in Norden had seemed to forget that she had requested to disengage when ordered to delay the enemy mages. People would believe in a reality that coincided with their wishes, and when enough people believed it that expectation become their reality. This was something that never changed regardless of the era. Even in the Empire that valued rationality and logic above all else, people would turn their back on the object truth and let it fade into history. Or so his favorite author from past life had said. Humans would mould the truth to their liking.

It seemed that because the major Norden offensive had cost Empire greatly the public's outrage was directed to whoever had advocated it. While the culprits had been subjected to the appropriate punishments, it hadn't quite quell the anger of the people. Ludwig was an innocent party, however being the gall to be close to Alberich in public stirred their resentment, and it didn't take long for people to justify their hatred for Ludwig himself.

Alberich had ordered Ludwig and Wolfgang to save their injured comrades, but the public's imagination had spun it into Ludwig abandoning the young hero. Which was ridiculous, Ludwig was one of those idiots with a high sense of justice who would lay down his life for his comrades and had only left because of how injured their commander had been.

Of course no one in the crowd knew this or cared. Ludwig was a convenient target ' _Humans… are creatures who enjoy venting their hatred and anger.'_ An image of the man who had killed them in a moment of madness flashed through Alberich's mind. He couldn't even hold grudge against the fool; in the modern world that man would be condemned to a hellish life in prison for commiting a double homicide. He had ended their life and ruined his own. ' _The euphoria of revenge lasts but a moment…'_

Ludwig was trembling with anger and shame but there was nothing he could say to defend himself. He'd returned to the army to take responsibility despite his mother urging him to resign. He would never forgive himself if he ran away in disgrace. Yet, he could feel his determination waver in the face of their scorn and he couldn't even look Beilschmidt in the eye.

This boy was one of many that had suffered due to his grandfather's folly.

"Welcome back to Rhine." Beilschmidt said evenly to him, no scorn in his words. "Have you eaten breakfast yet? Did you eat on the train?"

Ludwig blinked in confusion. "I… we have not." He answered honestly.

Beilschmidt nodded at that, before gesturing to a cooking station. A piping hot pot of sausage soup and a pile of K-brot laid there unattended. "Help yourself to some food, we might get called on a mission soon and I'd rather not have have a hungry mage flying with me."

Wolfgang pulled the mute Ludwig with him to fetch their breakfast, returning to the table after scooping a bowl and splitting the K-brot between themselves. Ludwig ate in small bites like a frightened animal and his body language screamed wariness. It seemed whatever had happened back home had strained his nerves.

Ludwig swallowed the last of the soup to wash out the dryness of the K-brot, then hesitantly asked; "Can I stay? Am I allowed to say… you know that my grandfather… he-"

Running away was preferable to dealing with this drama... Why couldn't Ludwig just shut up and take the hint that Alberich was already assigned as his flight commander, his personal opinion of Ludwig didn't matter in the slightest!

"He-"

"I don't care." His mouth had moved in his panic, desperate for Ludwig to stop dragging them into the uncharted territory of angst that Alberich really didn't want to deal with.

"Huh?"

His voice wasn't loud, but with the attention of the entire room focused upon them the words carried far.

' _The Paladin doesn't care?'_

' _What does that mean?'_

' _The Paladin doesn't care about Ludwig's reputation, so he doesn't mind being associated with the bastard?'_

' _He might be a hero but he's also a kid… maybe he doesn't get it.'_

' _Well, he is the Paladin. So…'_

Ludwig sputtered nervously, and Alberich took a deep breath. "Shut up." He glared at Ludwig, before sending an equally vicious glare at the chattering personnel around them.

"But-"

"What are you doing here!?" A new voice interrupted Ludwig. A soldier bearing the insignia of a Second Lieutenant stalked up to them. "I can't believe someone from the Ludwig family would dare to show their face in the Imperial Army after their grandfather's blunder." He said, his eyes narrowed at Ludwig.

Alberich tensed when the vicious chattering rose again in agreement with the newcomer. He looked up to see a man in his early twenties scowling at Ludwig and Wolfgang.

"What's done is done. You didn't choose to be his grandson but you should at least be aware of the bad light you're casting on your comrades here." He turned to face the red head, "Lieutenant Beilschmidt, please be careful when choosing your company. Not everyone in the Imperial Army is a noble soldier like yourself."

Where did this guy come from? What the hell he was talking about?

The Second Lieutenant directed his attention back to Ludwig. "The Paladin is a paragon of the Imperial soldier. He's defended our country bravely and halted any Republican scum who dared to tread our borders. I am sure you're aware of your family position at the moment." Ludwig flinched at that, "You can't blame me for feeling skeptical of your intention towards the Lieutenant."

HIs concern was valid. Alberich was an Imperial Hero. However he had was young with no family ties to speak of, a prime target to be exploited by someone crafty.

Ludwig snarled and stood, grabbing the man's collar. The timidity he'd shown since his arrival gone as if it had never existed. "How dare you?! You can insult me because of my family's disgrace all you want, but I won't forgive you for questioning my integrity!"

"Big words! You can't expect us to trust you." The man's words were harsh but the conviction he spoke with wasn't faked.

"No matter how low my family has fallen, a Ludwig would never resort to exploiting his comrades!"

"Then you should distance yourself!" He struggled fruitlessly to release Ludwig's grip, "Associating with someone like you will just drag Lieutenant Beilschmidt down! You're a noble Ludwig, so you know what's best for your friend. You should do for his sake otherwise..."

"I-"

"His reputation can't afford-"

 _That was enough!_

"SHUT UP!" Alberich roared, sending all utensils on the table flying. One of the stainless plate slammed into the other man's face, Ludwig's nose was smacked by a flying cup, while Wolfgang barely avoided a spoon from ramming his temple.

 _SMASH_

The gas lamp hanging from the beam of the tent didn't escape his out of control mana either, the broken glass raining down shards. Alberich took a deep breath, his heart thumping. It was the first time he had lost control in front of so many people. He had been so careful not to; in this life losing control was even more dangerous because of his gender and magic. However, this scene made him recall the most unpleasant memory of his previous life, and for a brief moment he saw the shadow of his younger brother on Ludwig's face.

His little brother who, in spite of his appearance, couldn't take pressure from others. The brother Alberich feared would get bullied in school because of his status as a special needs child. The boy who, whilst in tears after being bullied would still send loving and kind messages to his sister.

"Beilschmidt?"

Wolfgang's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Alberich stood up abruptly, knocking over the long bench he had been sitting on. Everyone around them looked frightened, even the man who had been so self-righteously belittling Ludwig had been petrified with fear. In his previous life he would just run away from the messes he'd make and pretend they'd never happened. His new status as a national hero, however, made that option career suicide.

So now he had to deal with this. While he disliked discrimination and bullying his disregard for Ludwig's new status as an outcast was potentially really dangerous. On the frontline being resented by your comrades could get you killed, so it really was in Ludwig's best interests to go home. And, if Alberich was being logical, it was in _his_ own to stay away. But this kind of matter hit too close to home, to his own personal issues, he couldn't just-

Alberich didn't know what to do. Tanya would, but what would Tanya do in this situation? If there was anything he'd learned from Tanya over the last nine years it was was how to deceive people by showing them what they wanted to see. Tanya, since the very beginning of her military career, had emulated the ideal soldier as if she had come straight out of the pages of the Imperial Army's handbook. A soldier with a sharp tactical mind, unflinching courage and unquestionable loyalty to her country.

So what did these people want from the Paladin?

For the first time since he had been saddled with the name, he felt grateful. Even without having Tanya's observational skills and meticulous mind he knew what these people wished to see of him.

So he held his head high and said with the most serious voice he could muster: "Our country is engulfed in the flames of war, Lieutenant…" He glanced at the petrified man. "Why sow discord? That's the last thing our Fatherland needs."

The Lieutenant hadn't expected the boy to speak out. The Paladin had already known to be indifferent to the addition of Ludwig to his new command. It was assumed that the young hero had simply been pressured into it, and like any good soldier had refused to complain.

"I am just concerned, Sir! Someone of your calibre can't be seen in the company of a member of a disgraced family like his. Retiring is the best thing for him to do!" Being the target of harsh words and scathing looks would be the least of Ludwig's worries if he continued, a bullet in the back could be just as likely.

"Who are you to decide that?" Alberich retorted. It became easier to decide what to say, the same words he'd wanted to say to those who had held his brothers back in his previous life under the guise of concern. "The Emperor and the General Staff have already decided the punishment for those responsible for the Norden Offensive. That's the end of it. Aren't you overstepping your mark?"

Apparently someone with a healthy complexion could become as pale as Tanya and himself when frightened badly enough. After all, Alberich had just suggested that all the soldiers here were insubordinate. Alberich wasn't sure they'd buy the bluff without the accidental show of power, as not even a national hero had the ear of the Emperor and General Staff. Not as long as it as it didn't endanger their country directly.

"No, Sir! Of course not, I wouldn't dare!"

"Our Imperial Army is a meritocracy. He has as much right to be here as everyone else as long as he does his duty."

So what if his brothers were autistic? They had right to go to school like any other child!

"And Ludwig!" Alberich turned to Ludwig, who was gaping like a fish. "If you have the courage to return to Rhine then I expect you to act like someone worthy of defending our Fatherland." He hated to see Ludwig act so submissive just because his family had fallen from grace.

Something shone in Ludwig's eyes and Alberich was taken aback as the formerly somber man gave a swift salute, one immediately copied by Wolfgang,. "Yes, Sir! I will work as hard as a draft a horse to follow you into hell!"

What the hell was he talking about? He wasn't going to hell! Who asked who to follow who? "Good answer." Was it a good answer? Alberich had no idea but their audience seemed pleased by Ludwig's words. For a good measure he added. "It's a shame to see the comrades who are supposed to work and rely on each other at each other's throats…"

Some of the burly men even blushed in shame. They must have completely sold themselves on the romantic notions of war. The sad thing was that the Mage Management Bureau had basically forced that detestable concept on him. Seriously, who would fight an 'honourable war' where guns and artillery were used?

"You should be ashamed." Though the one who was most embarrassed was him, he could feel the heat on his cheeks. So he left the scene as quickly as possible, not sparing the dumbfounded audience another glance.

* * *

 **Rhine Theater HQ**

According to Grand Plan 315 the regional force's task was to stall the invading enemy until the more mobile main army arrived to land a decisive strike. It was a sound idea, but the local forces felt that their task was easier said than done. The strain of the inevitable rising casualties was intense, and while they could still hold on, the delay in their reprieve was becoming unacceptable.

"What's the Main Army doing?! We're losing more and more men against the Republic!"

"We could get overrun any moment…"

"A month! They asked us to wait a month! We don't _have_ a month!"

"It was just an estimate. For all we know the Main Army won't ever get here!"

General Hans clasped his hands in frustration as the Rhine staff officers under him cursed their current situation. They were running out of options. At this rate they could only burn through their men like firewood and hope it would be enough. However, as soldiers given the responsibility of leading their subordinates spending them in such a way left a bitter taste in their mouths.

That a mere Second Lieutenant had noticed the impending conflict ahead of them was embarrassing enough, the fact that since the outbreak of war that same soldier had accomplished more in defence of the front than all the men in the room was almost more than they could bear.

"At the moment there's nothing we can do about numbers. Central promised reinforcements but the quality of the personnel is…" Central had concentrated their forces in the Main Army, what they sent to Rhine was either the leftover units or greenhorns fresh from training.

A logistic officer chimed in, "At least we have no problem with supplies… our men have enough bullets and food…" Nobody said it out loud, but they knew the generous resource allocation was nothing but a silent apology from Strategic HQ.

The smoke in the room became thicker as all members of this meeting reached for their nicotine fix. It was getting harder to see each other, sight obscured by swirling white. Nobody however had any intention of stopping, they all knew they shared the same grim expression at their own future. Not to mention that nicotine was all that kept them going these days.

"Speaking of logistics, is it possible for us to land a strike on the Republic's resources instead?"

"They have pushed our forces this far, it won't be easy to reach their supply lines."

"The idea o has merit I admit but they are well out of our reach-"

The general narrowed his eyes, "Then what's within reach?"

By process of simple elimination, it was the Republican source itself and whatever they bring along with them. But then what's the difference with what they were doing, repelling Republican force to stop them from advancing.

"I'd like to request more Mage personnel from Central." Came the other request from his subordinates. "The casualty rates for Mages is quite high and it takes a toll on our medic too…"

The other turned to ask, "Huh, why fatality rate in Mage branch of service burden our medics specifically?"

"Aah- it's not spoken rule but as Mages are rare human resource even in army." It was a cruel reality. "Medics are ordered to prioritize them…" Between two equally injured soldiers, if one is a mage the doctor had to choose him over the other.

"That's logical… Mages are that valuable in our army and everywhere else. "

Suddenly it dawned on them, there was something of value to Republican Army that within reach. Not only close, but said valuable resource also came flying to their lap.

Mages…

Not to mention, unlike Imperial Mages the Republican rely heavily on number for their Mage's doctrine. Whatever loss they suffered in their mage force would be felt in double if not thrice in Republican side. Republic would also prioritize their mage for medical treatment and leave other soldiers to death because they were more valuable.

They weren't sure to what degree loss of mage force could affect Republican Army's operation, or optimistic this could be a fatal blow. However for sure, more dead Republican Mage was good news no matter how they see it.

But this was once again the case of easier said than done, even if it was something as simple as making sure there were more dead Republican mage than theirs.

"If only all mage can replicate Paladin's feat two weeks ago…" Someone said wistfully before taking a deep inhale of his cigar.

The man next to the speaker nodded, "Ah, that's an impressive heroic rear guard action… for lone mage to come up at the top with such odd…"

"He wasn't exactly alone, according to the report he had support from other Aerial Mages for most of it."

"Still very impressive to survive one to eighteen odds, at the very least we can be sure that Second Lieutenant Beilschmidt have the capability to take down multiple opponents by himself." The pinnacle of their army that value quality over quantity.

"He is a child, talented mage or not…" Relying on result achieved by a child was questionable to rationalistic side of Imperial Army.

Hans frowned, "We can't deny his stellar result, I believe looking closer on how one mage achieve such feat would be beneficial."

"Both Paladin and Argent are noted for being mana powerhouse since their academy days, even if we investigate… I doubt other mage can replicate it."

There was that concern, however at this point they were willing to try everything. If only to not sit in their comfy chair as blood turn to river in Rhine.

 **Rhine Base 03**

It was a good thing he was the best in hiding with magic as afterward some people were looking for him to apologize or explain themselves.

Ludwig and Wolfgang found him in the end, but it was also because he wanted them to. Might as well put Ludwig's anxiety to rest as soon as he could, before he got killed in battlefield if his feeling get in the way. "Beilschmidt, there you are." Wolfgang looked relieved to see him.

He was cleaning his rifle, a routine he didn't find relaxing like it does Tanya. Then again this weapon was a gift he got through connection. Or was it his hush money for what he witnessed in Elenium lab? Either way he felt more obligated to take care of his sub-machine gun MP-18 than he did his old Mondragon. It also helped how well he maintain his weapon affect his chance of survival in Rhine.

"I am so sorry…" Ludwig apologized, his voice was soft and so uncharacteristic of him.

Alberich focused on inspecting the muzzle, not turning to look at his flight members. "What are you sorry for?" Rumbling of thunder and eerie whistle of wind could be heard in the tent, muffling his even voice.

The weather was _unfortunately_ terrible this afternoon with strong wind and lightning, no matter how much enmity there was between Republic and Empire they weren't foolish enough to go against impartial mother nature. So they had time to rest, it was valuable moment to take a break yet Ludwig wasted it with apologizing.

"For everything…" He finished. "My grandfather-"

Okay, this was getting ridiculous. "Ludwig, you can't possibly apologizing for being the grandson of your grandfather." Hence, Ludwig couldn't apologize for his mess either. The former chief of staff was an adult and he had been punished, a grandson shouldn't apologize for his grandfather.

When it was worded that way, it does sound foolish. "I also… fail to save Commander Krause in time…"

"I doubt I could have been faster than you, we're all more or less share the guilt for our commander's death." Commander Krause had passed away, they could only apologize to his family. He already did and he refused to dwell on that.

Ludwig swallowed heavily, "Then for staying…"

Wolfgang who was standing beside him flinched, "Young Master Ivan…"

Young Master Ivan? Alberich narrowed his eyes at that change of address and respectful tone in Wolfgang's voice. He knew he had forgotten something when he was informed about their leave, it was understandable why Ludwig had family emergency but what does it have anything to do with Wolfgang who was merely a friend? It seems it does have a lot to do with Wolfgang, who was apparently a retainer of Ludwig. Knowing Ludwig, he might not want being looked down upon for entering academy with a retainer in tow. Was that story of Wolfgang being breadwinner sending money home untrue though?

Came to think of it back then… Ludwig was the one who told Alberich this, and Wolfgang just nodded with resigned look. Not that Alberich cared about their staged background at this point.

It wasn't rare for soldiers hailing from nobility to have servant serving in army with them. Few decades ago, it was very common for noble women to have some ladies in waiting to the point there were sets of special rules made for them. Well- nowadays Tanya was the only one obligated to follow those much to her chagrin.

"Wolfgang!" Ludwig reprimanded the taller youth for his slip-up. It was rare for Wolfgang to slip calling Ludwig like how he did at home, as he was under strict order to treat Ludwig as fellow soldiers in army.

"Ludwig, focus."

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I decide to stay so I can take responsibility for my family, but it's unfair for Beilschmidt if he get in trouble because of me."

"But if you're transferred out…" Wolfgang had been relieved that their young comrade had shielded Ludwig, at the very least with his stellar reputation Alberich had enough clout to protect Ludwig.

Ludwig shook his head, "I haven't fallen so low to be a leech on my comrade."

At last the idiot said his biggest concern instead of talking in circle. "I actually relieved to have someone familiar watching my back, what's there to apologize for?"

"Beilschmidt… people is bound to talk behind our back, your reputation will suffer just for being associated with me!" He spat disdainfully.

Alberich sighed, "Is that all?"

"And who knows if… someone would plan something malicious against me and you might get involved."

"That's possible… in battlefield stray bullet might come your way by accident." He muttered as he continue cleaning his rifle. "We have to be more careful then…"

"Beilschmidt… I am _fucking_ serious here!"

Alberich set down his cleaning kits and said. "So am I, but what do you expect me to do? Throw you to the wolves and ask for a change of personnels?"

Mere Lieutenant who had just commissioned for a few months didn't have that much authority. They _might_ give special treatment to Alberich but that wouldn't look good. "No…"

"Then just take it as me having no choice but take you under my wing…" Alberich concluded, "I am not someone as virtuous as my second name suggest to put myself to harm out of kindness." He waved his hand dismissively. "Are we done?"

They didn't seem like they believe him, if bewildered look they have was anything to go by. Then again Alberich was almost used on being compared unfairly with people he was close with. For example, he was often noted to be a very quiet child because her brother was rambunctious due to his Hyperactive DIsorder. And in this life a lot of classmate mistook him for someone kind and meek next to Tanya who had domineering personality.

Was he a good person? Well- he had a good upbringing in past life at the very least. Though watching his mother's back blackmailing (legally) and bribing people in school to smooth out his brother's school life for years. So he wasn't a big believer of blindly following legal channel.

His musing was cut off by a loud salutation from Ludwig and Wolfgang. "We understand, Sir!"

"Hm?" Was that tears he saw in Ludwig's eyes? There was also strange light he couldn't perceive from the way Ludwig look at him, which was eerily familiar but he couldn't recall from were and it scared him. Alberich began to sweat under the heated gaze of beaming Ludwig.

"We will follow you to the depth of hell!"

He occasionally called Rhine battlefield hell or underworld, Ludwig was already in his flight so of course the noble would follow him here. Why did he state the obvious? Still, with this drama over with, he told the duo to scram. Ludwig saluted enthusiastically, "I shall prepare for our next battle,Sir!"

"I told you to rest." They had just come back from a long trip after all.

"Right! Rest is crucial part of our duty as you said, Sir!"

Alberich was sure that wasn't how he say it. He watched Ludwig left in cloud of dust followed by Wolfgang. Ludwig might be losing one or two screw from his head it seemed, and Wolfgang seemed like he was in pain. Alberich decided he shouldn't think too much about Ludwig and his newfound insanity, as long as he was fit for duty Alberich wouldn't worry.

As strange as it sound, he hoped there would be peace in this battlefield where his worry was only to get killed by their enemies. "I can hope, Western Theater would be busy holding back Republican." They would be too occupied and won't put member of his flight who had unfortunate background in their eyes anymore.

He was being optimistic, and said hope died a spectacular death in few hours, a MP came bearing a message from his Squadron Commander. "First Lieutenant Schwarzkopf asked for you in his office, Sir." It took all his self-restraint to not make strange face because he knew his commander wasn't looking for him with good news.

 **Schwarzkopf's office**

The talk about what happened in the morning had spread like wildfire in Western Theater, and the opinions among the soldiers were mixed. There were people who admired Alberich's honourable attitude and ashamed for their prejudice against Ludwig, some even apologize to him and Wolfgang. However those who continued resenting Ludwig became more bitter because Alberich was defending the former Chief of Staff's grandson, and extend their hatred for the child mage.

If he knew their thought, Alberich would snort because the idiots calling themselves brave men were angry because he told them something they didn't want to hear.

Alberich however had no time to analyze the split of faction and their opinion of him. After all he was called to Schwarzkopf's office for the commotion he caused.

"I am really sorry, Sir." He wasn't sure the detail of faux pass he had committed but he will just apologize to be safe. There must be some mistakes he did to be sorry for anyway.

The squadron commander was a bit miffed to see ninety degree bow from the young lieutenant, however from the bright red ears that almost melded with his hair Schwarzkopf had a pretty good idea that Alberich was beyond sorry for the trouble this morning. He was unsure what this bowing gesture coming from though. "I can't believe you're giving everyone on the scene a dressing down like that…" He intoned tiredly, "Well… you're rightfully defending your subordinate but… still- you also offend not small amount of people today." Also garnering respect of some so it was balanced out somehow.

Alberich didn't dare to raise his head.

"While I am sure a child your age have flexible bone, I feel like abusing a child if you keep bending your waist like that." As a father he felt phantom pain to see another child behaving like this. He had tried to distant himself from this kind of notion unlike Krause, but it was getting harder to do so. Schwarzkopf keep seeing shadow of his children in Alberich, the scene of macabre he saw back then didn't help.

At last the boy straightened his back before speaking. "Sir… perhaps I am not the best choice for flight leader, I am inexperienced and impulsive… I will give everyone trouble if I-"

Did Beilschmidt just try to use this problem to slip out of his new responsibility? Then again from report on how he faced Republican mages during invasion, this boy was apparently a sly sort of fighter. He didn't fight like how his second name suggest for sure.

"Beilschmidt… it's _decided_ that you're the new commander of second flight." He said the word 'decided' with finality. "There's no one else… Ludwig is in awkward situation." While the incident helped his reputation somewhat, Schwarzkopf had no intention to fan the flame. "Wolfgang don't have what it takes to lead." The last member of second flight contrary to his build was a follower. He was good in taking care of people but not the decisive sort who can lead.

Beilschmidt frowned, and Schwarzkopf knew the boy disagreed that he had what it takes. "Regardless of your opinion, the Western Theater have high opinion about you… the silver wings is solid proof of that. Do not forget your identity."

He'd rather forget the damned medal actually. "Yes, Sir."

At times Schwarzkopf wondered if Beilschmidt was being too humble for a soldier to the point of self-deprecation. Especially with how reluctant he was to be on leading position. Or it could be something else, after all the boy was bold enough to throw his weight as national hero around today. He had heard the boy left the commotion with face flushing in scarlet colour from indignation, and the crowd parted like red sea for him. The boy could pull some amazing feat when push come to shove.

That was a good trait as soldier, but also bad… Especially since their superiors were eyeing Beilschmidt as golden goose.

"Beilschmidt… about the diversion tactic you use against Republican back then…"

"Diversion tactic?" He echoed in confusion. "Erm…"It was something he thought up on the spot, does it count as proper tactic? Frankly, it felt like some project he threw together in last minute and happen to work better than expected. All thing considered, it was plain suicidal with how risky it was to hide and attacking at a large group of mage sneakily. If his animated decoy was figured out sooner he would be dead. If one of enemy mages manage to find chance to deploy stronger scanning spell, he would also be dead. If they happen to see Ludwig and co, his diversion would also easily unveiled.

There was so many _if_ that his plan could kill him and his comrade.

"With all respect Sir, I'd rather not repeating it." That was his most heartfelt feeling about it.

"Why?"

"Uh…" His eyes began to swim and began to explain. "It's too risky, Sir. This set of tactic is sound in theory with taking advantage of gap in enemy's sensory perception… however it relies heavily on mages who take decoy role to divert attention with optical illusion spell." Alberich swept his hand to his side, an a nondescript illusion of mage in combat uniform materialized. "Normal optical illusion however is only capable of replacing its caster in restricted time and action." As far as he knew decoy created by his fellow mage could follow a very simple set of instruction, such as moving their lips, flying with simple maneuver and so on.

Alberich demonstrated how his illusion took a seat on nearby chair, crossing his arms and legs. It began to look around, its mouth moved silently. "As you can see, Sir. I animate the decoy to move different part of its body continuously in loop… even if it's long distance battle, our enemies would still get close enough to see how decoy move. Unlike real mage, decoy's body parts move as one… their limbs stay still and it's easy to see through it."

In short, other mage's decoy looks like the old nintendo's game animation. Of course, it was impractical for them to pursue perfection on spell like this because it was tedious to be utilized in practical level in heat of battle. Also, to some... this spell didn't fit the image of valiant Imperial mage. Alberich could foresee his valiant knight image crumbling to pieces if it was found out that he favor this spell.

"I see."

Schwarzkopf supposed that make sense, and that was why to mages in general the spell optical decoy was deemed supplementary and favored offensive spell more. Not to mention even though it was a common spell that didn't consume a lot of mana, it wasn't easy to cast together with other spell like mage shell. So most mage would fortify their shell rather than making a feign with decoy against enemy's fire.

"Also…" Alberich lifted up his Forkerr orb, a rigorous humm could be heard from the device. "This decoy animation spell will burden our Operational Orb heavily, there's not much room left to cast another spell… while it's possible to maintain flight spell together, it would be impossible to do intense maneuver."

In short, once the gig was up the caster would be toast.

"Have you tried to think up a solution?"

Alberich nodded, and readjust his decoy. The surface of the animated soldier became less smooth, and jagged as if he was made of polygon. "This is one of it."

Schwarzkopf looked taken aback by the illusion's new look, while Alberich life like decoy was eerie on itself, it was looking like a bizarre creature now. "What did you do?"

"Simplifying the shape of decoy, Sir." He answered, "It's the same concept of sculpting… generally mage would build realistic illusion according to their skill like fine sculpture, which will take time and energy. I stopped the process of sculpting the decoy in less fine details…"

The First Lieutenant eyed the polygon human with a grimace. "I see...from long distance we usually combat with, our enemies won't be able to tell unless they take closer look. This imperfect decoy would also cost less mana and data processing of our computation orb… thus, making it easier to deploy together with other spell?"

Alberich nodded proudly, "Yes."

"Is this difficult to achieve?"

"It takes a while to get a hang controlling the degree of smoothness of our decoy freely, I have shared this method with Major Einzbern, Lieutenant Degurechaff, Ludwig and Wolfgang… there should be no issue for this step but…"

"But?" Schwarzkopf echoed.

The boy coughed nervously, "It's a bit harder to teach other mage in animating decoy to move naturally like real human…" And to be honest his animation of decoy wasn't so smooth and natural either. He wasn't a motion designer in the first place. "Aside from heavily reliant on how well we can deceive of our enemy… we also have to take out our target quickly by first shot. This strategy leave no room for prolonged battle… the longer it takes to eliminate our enemy the change of success would drop drastically." That was the largest weakness of this set of move, time wasn't on their side. While battle between mages tend to be a fast one, usually it still not as time intensive as this strategy require. Also by now Commander Schwarzkopf should figure out that…

In this plan, if it failed once the mages should get the hell out without trying for second round.

"You have utilized this in battle between a flight against squadron with high degree of success…" Alberich wasn't sure it was really all that successful but his side came out of their fight mostly intact at least. "What if it's in scenario of squadron VS squadron or squadron VS wing?"

Alberich froze at that. "Hm…" He cupped his chin, "It would be vastly different… when I think up this plan the purpose is to divide and conquer larger group of enemies. Stealth and diversion is the main core of it so operating in smaller group is preferable. I think it won't be so different when operated in a squadron… but in a wing…" He trailed off unsurely.

"In such large group, stealth tactic would be more difficult to employ especially with plan that require soft touch like this…"

"There's also the matter of cover… we only have clouds and suppressing mana signal method… magical camo won't work well against fellow mage…" He added on, and the discussion continued for hours.

Alberich was tired and he was seriously considering faking nodding off, taking advantage of his age so Schwarzkopf would take pity on him. At last his commander let him go but his parting words left a lot to desire.

"Depending on our mission, I'd like to try your plan in our next anti-mage operation."

WHY?!

He had a sleepless night, and he could feel a premonition of dread from how interested his commander in his diversion tactic. He could only- At the time like this usually he would pray that his bad feeling was just his paranoia, but then he realized the God of this world was a jerk who wouldn't care. Being-X would even happily push him towards trial and tribulation in the name of faith.

Life was simpler when he didn't know God is an asshole. There was bad luck and there's a group of jerkass deity coming after you.

* * *

 **The Next Day**

He missed his healthy skin from past life, it wasn't a perfect skin without blemish or anything but at least he had a healthy complexion. In this life his skin was sickly pale, and sunbathing was giving him pain instead of healthier tan. In past life lack of sleep couldn't be seen on him, no dark circles or under-eye bags.

His skin as Alberich however…

"Just one night of no sleep makes me looks like a panda." Well, the circle wasn't _that_ dark but Alberich felt his usual warm and friendly look now gave creepy impression with deep frown and narrowed bloodshot eyes. If it wasn't his own face, Alberich would wonder if the boy with this face was on drugs or something. Could he even show this face in public? If he knew this might happen he would take the offer to take those leftover makeup propaganda for Tanya. Foundation would be handy at the time like this. He woke up earlier than others so no one saw him yet but-

"Good Morning, Si-SIR!"

Alberich made his swift escape from the makeshift bathroom tent. Thinking it shouldn't be a big deal, but does his haggard look so strange to the point someone stutter at one look? On his way back to his tent, more people excuse themselves from his sight.

Ludwig was expecting stares and glares aimed to his body this morning. After all, even though some people had a change of mind about him it wasn't like he earned everyone's approval yet. So it surprised him that some people even pointedly trying their best to not meet his eyes. Yesterday, he was treated like a criminal and today they acted like he had turned to a gorgon.

"I almost prefer how they treat me yesterday."

Wolfgang nodded in agreement, "Yeah, this creeps me out a little."

Marco and Sean from other flight of 205th came to join their table. "So, I heard our little Paladin wake up this morning with murder on his eyes?"

"Huh?" Chorused Wolfgang and Ludwig.

Sean nodded sagely, "I told you Marco, Beilschmidt had an impressive glare this morning… it just scream murder!" Then in mock conspiratorially gesture he leaned forward. "He is still angry for what happened yesterday it seems…" Sean snickered to himself. "Never imagine that I will see the day brave men of Imperial army scrambling to avoid a kid's death glare."

"To be fair, the kid is our Alberich Beilschmidt~" Marco said in between chewing his breakfast. "I will stay clear of him too if I am the target of his ire."

* * *

 **Hello, long time no see... but I upload this chapter anyway, sorry for the lack of beta of this chapter. I will run it through grammarly at least later on.  
But Basically life has been a tad unkind, because... my co-worker QUIT one by one so my office can't hire a foreigner like me due to quota so they're paying me part-time but I am stressing over it until they come to this decision. Well... at least I still have enough money for everything and lal but it's still depressing to go back to family home.  
**

 **Thank you for reading this story and see you later~**

 **Uuh- I have to see discord one of these days, I miss my friends... and well, did Gen update anything yet so far?**


	20. 19th Record

**19th Record**

 **Encore for The Reaper**

In the modern era, there were plenty of people doing dangerous things because they liked it or it was their job. Job was one thing but a hobby was an entirely different thing, bungee jumping, skydiving, or surfing. Those thrill seekers back in the 21st century never made sense to him. Typically their reason for endangering their lives was because it was an adventure, and what was life without some danger element to it?

He was firmly on the camp of living a boring and stable life, so was the salaryman Tanya used to be.

Jokes on them was, when death was coming for you it didn't matter. Alberich's adrenaline junkie co-workers live longer than him when his life was cut short before he hit his thirties. In this life, because of the lack of options, and also a devil advocate's persuasion against his previous belief, Alberich enlisted as a soldier.

When war came rolling, his job description came in bold as a killer whose income depend on how high the pile of enemy corpses he made. His working environment was a polluted sky, and there was no safety equipment attached on him as he flew with his own power. Also, there were enemies actively trying to kill him, unlike modern era adrenaline junkies who only had to worry about accidentally killing themselves. He had no room to speak now.

Also, unlike them he had no choice to back out. It was a job, and as an upstanding member of the workforce, he had to complete it to satisfaction.

That was the circumstances of one Alberich Beilschmidt, the commander of 205th Squadron's second flight.

"Let's do our best, flight commander!"

Unlike Alberich, who was in a somber mood for their first mission after coming back to Rhine, Ludwig was in high spirits. And just a few days ago he was so gloomy and anxious about everything, but he had recovered quickly. How envious Alberich was of him to be all sunshine even in this cloudy battlefield.

Alberich cast his gaze heavenward before he spoke, "Yes, of course." He would do his best, but he couldn't feel spirited on the prospect of slaughtering Republican soldiers for salary.

Their mission today was typical for Aerial Mages, namely serving as close air support. Aerial Mages were ideal for this mission, because mages possess maneuverability and agility aircraft in this age couldn't match. So it was easier for ground forces to coordinate with mages than with the air force. Hence, the reason why, in spite of operating airborne, Aerial Mages were not part of the air force.

"Second Lieutenant, today you will have free reign."

"Yes, Sir." He really wants their commander to reconsider.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Cadet Corps Dormitory**

Erya Arnim was an early riser, but she wasn't following the old saying " _the early bird catches the worm_ " her mother often said when she was a child. She wasn't after the benefit of rising early for the sake of her health either, it was simply an ingrained habit of a farmer's daughter. She had to wake up at the crack of dawn because the eggs the chickens have laid won't pick themselves, the pigs would whine for food and anyone in the family who didn't finish their chores would get their breakfast stolen by their siblings.

So yeah, the early riser catches their breakfast.

Even after she was conscripted to the cadet corps for her magical talent, Erya continued to wake up before sunrise. Waking up by herself was lonely so she troubled her classmate, roommate, and friend, Victoriya Ivanovna Serebyakova to rise and shine with her. Obviously Victoriya 'Visha' wasn't an early riser, in fact Erya was positive from the dizzy spell she got every morning, Visha had a low blood pressure. Erya felt a little guilty waking her up but she was sure Visha would get healthier from this good habit she imparted to her friend!

"Wake up, sleepy head!"

VIsha rubbed her pretty hazel colored eyes, looking a bit resentful that Erya dragged her out from Morpheus' embrace. "Mmm… Guten Morgen, Erya."

Erya sometimes felt inferior to Visha, no matter what her friend said about her great figure and style. Visha was oblivious at the looks of surprise their classmates had when she introduced herself, not only was she obviously not a native Imperial Citizen, her name was screaming 'nobility' for all to hear. Visha wasn't a rare existence in the Empire, there were plenty of refugee from the fallen Rus Tsarist, but this was the first time they met a former noble from there.

It could be seen from how Visha carried herself, the way she walked and speak was graceful and refined. To Erya, it was like getting a princess friend. It didn't take longer than a week for Erya to not care who Visha used to be in Rus, this good friend was hers, princess or not.

"I wish they will post us to the same unit." Visha mumbled, before taking a hearty bite of her toast.

If there was anything not princess-like about Visha, it was her appetite. Not even a farmer's daughter working from the crack of dawn until sunset like her ate as much as Visha does. "I would love that too, we could be a pair!" Imperial mages generally operated in a pair, hence why Erya wished they would be one. "There's a possibility of that depending on how much reinforcements get drafted to defend the Rhine front, and due to the hassle it's likely they will group personnels that are already familiar with each other like us." With unfamiliar comrades, no matter how disciplined, it would take time to form a cohesive unit.

"Oh?" Visha continued munching her breakfast like a hamster.

"I was considered for a cushy job as an artillery observer for the main army at first, but due to the number of casualties and the survivors of existing mage units in Rhine didn't match up, it seems they will just promote a veteran to lead the squadron that lost their commander and fill up the vacant positions with fresh graduates like us." Erya was a pro in eavesdropping, after all, living in a remote village meant there wasn't any other entertainment for women other than gossiping. So Erya learned quickly how to hide her presence and reading lips to spy on gossiping housewives.

It worked well on personnel-dept officers as long as she knew where the good spots to peep on them were. That- and some sensory enhancement spells.

"So! I could be shelved for the main unit or not, but it seems your posting is a done deal… you will go to Rhine and become part of a new flight."

"Erya…Sometimes I wonder if you are a ninja that came from the Far East."

Where was this Far East? Obviously the former noble Visha assumed Erya would know if there was any countries located further east than the Rus Union. While Erya did attend school, they didn't cover geography much beyond the border of this continent. "Hahaha. A woman has her secrets, comrade Victoria."

"Alrighty. By the way, do you know where this flight will be assigned to?" As a rookie mage, their posting was a big concern for them.

Erya hummed, "Ah, it's not forming a new flight, but a replacement in a flight that was wiped out… that's basically it. Don't worry, I heard the flight leader is a veteran soldier who possesses the Silver Wings medal."

There was a long silence before Visha computed Erya's information. "Silver Wings? …You mean the Silver Wings Assault Medal!?"

"Ohh, look how panicky you are." Like a bird shot by a peashooter. "Visha has an expressive face as usual." She looked very cute like that. "The Silver Wings Assault Medal is a big deal, but there are only two living recipients now. So we must be living in an age of legends."

They had been drafted to Cadet School by the time that hero news hit the newspaper, so neither Erya nor Victoriya had ever seen the heroes on paper. "Age of legends you say, war is a terrible thing! Erya… it's not like in the fairy tales."

Erya quieted down at that, she almost forgot this girl, who was as young as she was, had seen the war that forced her to flee her former country. Visha was a naive girl, but when it comes to the horrors of war, she knew more than Erya. "Well- you see, it seems both recipients are in Rhine now!"

"They are?!" War or not, the idea of meeting living legends still excited them very much. "What kind of people are they, I wonder?"

Erya grinned at that, "Who knows? But I suppose we can guess from their second names."

"Second names…" Visha had heard that accomplished mages would be given second names by MMB, but she never dreamed of getting one. For a conscript like her surviving was already a tall order, never mind getting prestige in the battlefield like these heroes. "Theirs are…"

Erya lifted a finger, "The first awardee got her name in August, I believe her second name is Argent, the pure silver."

Visha's eyes were sparking and Erya was sure she was imagining something pretty and fairytale like. "She must be someone noble and pure."

"Eeh, she could be a cold beauty type! Silver has this cold impression you know!" But Visha wasn't wrong about the pure impression in this second name, it made Erya imagine of someone with untarnished grace.

"I see, that fits too! Do you know silver is a very sacred metal, when used to make eating utensils it can save your life!" She chirped.

Erya stopped at that, while Visha blinked innocently at her and unaware of what she just implied. In most part of this continent, the silver spoon represents prayer for newborn children to grow up without worry for hunger. On the other hand for Visha, who was a former noble… _'Does this dear friend of mine realize she just told me that her family's choice of silverware is to prevent assassination by poison?'_

Visha continue eating her toast with sunny side egg toppings, confused by Erya's bewildered stare. "Erya?"

Erya quickly changed the topic, "Aah, and another silver wing awardee is the Paladin."

Visha's eyes sparkled at that, "Paladin as in… a knight?"

"Argent is the hero in the Norden front, Paladin is from Rhine… I heard he bravely defended his retreating comrades against the Republican army." Erya sighed wistfully, "So he must be someone brave and chivalrous."

"Like the knights from medieval stories…" Visha sighed dreamily.

"Right?" Erya giggled, "Someone like King Arthur from the Unified Kingdom's Arthurian legend?"

She shook her head, "I am sure it's Orlando, the wielder of Durandal!" Visha nodded enthusiastically to her own suggestion, "He was famous for sacrificing himself to protect his retreating comrades too!" Maybe that was where the Paladin of their army get his name.

But… what is a knight like in this bloody and cruel war in this era? Visha and Erya couldn't help but wonder.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Rhine Front, 4th Defensive Line**

Alberich had messed up big time, it was nothing new. Someone with ADHD tend to screw themselves over the moment their focus drop, and he had a lot of experience on that. However this was nothing like that, he had been paying attention, focused and not letting his thoughts wander. With your life on the line, it was more than enough motivation to stay awake.

Two of his squad mates still died, the new members that didn't pass the trial of fire and iron, and several others including Sean was injured. They had ambushed a wing that breached their defensive line, protecting their ground force from aerial attacks of mages and bombers. His squadron had split in one-two flight formation to deal with the enemy wing.

The diversion tactic worked okay, in an operative term of the word that the casualties on the other side was bigger than theirs. Using the decoy and animation spells managed to divide their opponents' attention, conquering the divided however… still relies on skill of respective flight members. It only came to his attention that if one of their flight fails to subdue their enemies, the other would be too occupied to provide back up.

It messed up the Republican volley of fire formation, and the same could be said to their own teamwork. Alberich's flight was the first to finish off the squadron they're assigned to eliminate, but it was too late to save the other half of third flight. Then it goes downhill from there when the remaining enemies zeroed-in for him.

"It's the Imperial Reaper!"

In a open channel they shouted about how his elimination was a priority, how dangerous he was to be left alive and what a blow it would be against the Empire if he falls. Alberich was too panicked to process their attempt to demoralize and distract him, what he knew is he was screwed because all the enemies in this shared airspace wanted his head on a spike.

As a soldier, it had been ingrained in him to kill before he got killed. His hands weren't clean either, but it was still a shock when he thrust his bayonet into incoming enemy mages and soaked his arms with warm red liquid. His body moved faster than his mind could process, swinging the scythe made of mana to cleave through their enemies.

His uniform was damp with blood, but it wasn't cold-disgustingly warm. Before he was trapped in his consciousness when he tore through Republican mages, but he was awake now. He was scared out of his mind because they tried their damndest to kill him, and all he could think of was cutting them apart before they got him. He couldn't even hear Schwarzkopf's command to get back and regroup, then again; with a pack of enemies hot on your heels raining spells on you, it was hard to oblige Schwarzkopf's order.

Somehow his comrades managed to snipe his pursuers, easier than expected. Then again; with Alberich's scythe cleaving every mage that got too close, they weren't inclined to be in close combat with him. Thus they easily become Schwarzkopf's squadron's sniping targets with no fear of friendly fire against Alberich.

The child mage was staying still, his mind in a jumbled mess as he processed what he just did willingly to preserve his own life. He had killed before but this time was different, because previously he didn't feel bones grinding against his scythe, smelt the vivid odour of blood and guts, and felt his skin became sticky and warm from spilt blood.

This was the first time taking life felt so real to him. Alberich wanted to cry and vomit, he didn't know which one he wanted to do first. But then his commander came forward and slap him. The pain snapped him from the stupor of guilt, and he stared blankly at his commander in silent question.

"You're not allowed to cry here… you can't- not in front of the others."

Oh yes, he was a national hero now- a public figure that shouldn't break down in front of his comrades because it was bad for moral. He understood the logic, but it didn't stop the ugly and black thought that curls in his gut like a feral beast at the unfairness of this situation. Alberich signed up to be a soldier, whose duty was protecting their country. Not for this moral pillar shit where he had to be a hero first before a human with feelings.

Life was shit, he really wanted to quit this stupid job. However; one couldn't back down in total war like this, and he felt slightly less guilty about killing Republican mages for reducing him to a wreck like this.

 _'Fuck you too commander, for being a voice of reason that reminded me of my place.'_

Alberich decided he could forgive Schwarzkopf for being a manipulative ass a little when the First Lieutenant let him cry and puke as soon as everybody was out of sight and earshot. Then sending a plate of warmed apple pie from a can and a cup of hot tea to his tent.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Two Months Later, Strategic HQ (Rudersdorfs' Office)**

They fucked up big time, that was the crudest but most befitting summary since the Republic let the first shell fly in the skies of Rhine. He and Zettour saw it coming, but as the deputy chiefs of their respective departments, they didn't possess the authority to prepare for the eventuality more than they already had. Zettour had prepared supplies and logistics, but the railway had limits in capacity. At the very least, the Rhine Theater didn't have to worry about running out of bullets, shells and food for their soldiers due to the ' _emergency_ ' preparations Zettour did anytime soon.

It still didn't change the fact they were in bad shape, and the upper brass, who were supposed to lead their glorious army, had brought disaster upon their comrades in the Western Theater. The re-organizing and dismissal for the idiots who push for the deployment of the main army to Norden hardly soothed Rudersdorfs' wounded heart.

"If only we had kept ourselves to internal mobilization…" Those fools called him a coward, believing the deployment of the main army shall ensure the future of their national security. What about the present, then?! They have the superior army, but they weren't strong enough to overpower the other Great Powers easily.

"We're the ones who failed to convince our superiors that the Republic won't stay idle and watch Legadonia fall." Said Zettour in an even voice at his best friend's loss of composure, but inside he was as frustrated as the other Brigadier General.

Rudersdorf scoffed, "Even though we're not totally caught off guard, the situation is still very grave."

"And since our efforts to delay enemies isn't working, we have no choice but to switch to mobile defense." Zettour gave his input, which was a logical solution but… "Plan 315 is no longer viable at the moment."

The officer stepped forward, "It would be difficult, Sir. Considering the state of our Rhine front." Rerugen reported, "Our force is depleted and exhausted, so it's beyond their capacity."

The scholar general flipped through reports of the Rhine Theater, "Indeed… we have lost over half of the reinforcements we sent them, the mages assisting our air force and ground force is especially… hm?" He fished out a report, one that had a commendation from Mortiz Paul von Hans. "What is this? Renewing the mage battle doctrine against the Republican volley fire doctrine?"

Rerugen frowned, "Who is the writer?"

"Second Lieutenant Beilschmidt…" Zettour cupped his chin, "The Paladin?" Even if it was the war hero with impressive merit, his paper wouldn't land on their desk so easily without going through strict procedure. Unless… the Western Theater's leader himself had a hand in this.

"Proposing our mage corps in Rhine to switch our current battle doctrine at this point?" Rudersdorf was impressed, "Very bold even for an awardee of the Silver Wing Assault Medal!" With that medal, even generals like them would respect the awardee for their valor. "That would be impractical." He had to add.

Rerugen had been specifically watching both Beilschmidt and Degurechaff's spiel in their respective posts, Schwarzkopf was also a good friend of his so he spoke up. "Actually… aside from their first contact with the Republican Mages, 205th Mage Squadron, where Lieutenant Beilschmidt was assigned, has the highest success rate in the Rhine front with minimum casualties."

Zettour was already finished skimming the paper, it wasn't very thick in the first place because the writer was straightforward explaining the new doctrine and the reference came from a mage doctor that supported the theories behind it. Typical of paper written with haste in the front line, the writer also had some mistakes in grammar here and there as if it was never double-checked. He had a feeling this second lieutenant wrote this because his superior asked and had to complete the assignment with a very pressing deadline.

"Read it… God didn't abandon us if we happen to have the right mage in the right place."

Rudersdorf accepted the paper, and couldn't help but wonder why Zettour, who was usually a perfectionist, didn't say anything about the haphazardly written paper. He understood quickly why, "Ha ha ha… his battle-doctrine just happens to be the Achilles Heel of the Republican volley of fire."

Zettour cupped his chin, "Well, I am all for this doctrine to be adopted in the Western Theater… especially since the Republicans have the upper hand in numbers when it comes to mages in that front."

"And… because Mages are rare, the Republic… just like us, will prioritize preserving their mages. Especially so since they rely on numbers to fight ours…" More Republican Mages in mortal peril means their already limited medical resources would be spent on them instead of other forces and snowballing from there.

"It's all in conjecture." Zettour murmured, "But at this point, there's no harm to make sure there's more dead enemy soldiers than ours…" The Western army's task was buying time for the main army, anything goes to protect Rhine.

Rudersdorf sighed, "Indeed… so what does General Hans want by sending us this paper?"

"The Paladin is a mere second lieutenant, so he must be at most... a flight leader now." Rerugen himself had received the message from Schwarzkopf of what the Western Theater wanted. It was quite an absurd request, but at this point…

"I see… while this theory presented is sound, it's still rough around the edge since the boy has no experience in commanding a group bigger than a flight." While the commander of the squadron the boy belonged to was willing to concede to his order, it wasn't the same as actually being in command. Even if the boy proved himself in battle that earned him the highest honor of their army, some would be skeptical about this doctrine created by a boy who never lead a squadron.

Zettour was on the same page as his friend, "Hm…. from the paper I can tell it can't be implemented uniformly in a large scale yet. He needs more experience to perfect it…" He cupped his chin. "I suppose we can just do that."

Rudersdorf knew the role of a hero in the battlefield wasn't as glorious in the real world, even more so in this bloody war. "If it give us a better chance to halt the Republic until the main force arrives, we shall allow this."

Rerugen couldn't help but swallow bitterness in his mouth at this, there were adults in the frontline and they relied on the sole child fighting there. _'He is a child but also a soldier, it's part of his duty. At the very least… he isn't like Degurechaff.'_

"Let this be salvation in hell the Rhine had become."

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **Rhine Battlefront**

Once upon a time a great strategist of ancient China said, _"The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive them; not on the chance of our enemy not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable."_ In which his country, the Reich Empire followed religiously in spite of never knowing the man and yet failed spectacularly. They had responded well to the Republic's surprise attack, but against the full might of a Great Power, the western army still had to pay a great sacrifice to defend the Fatherland.

Tanya once told him there was a soldier that shared the same family name as First Lieutenant Schwarzkopf in their past life, the man was said to have learned the true horrors of war, all it takes was holding a dying comrade in your arm and unable to do a thing. Alberich wasn't holding anyone, but he saw the man who greeted him with good mornings and offered coffee today turned to a corpse in the afternoon, the bottom half of his body pulverized and his kind face twisted in horror. Alberich was defending the other post with his squadron when that gentleman lost his life.

He also learned how terrifying war was when an enemy mage stared in horror as Alberich buried his bayonet in the body, it wasn't his face that reflected in the glazed eyes of a dying enemy, but a grim reaper.

Alberich had heard enemies screaming about the Imperial Reaper, and after the third time listening to this name shouted with disdain and fear in open channel, he realized they were talking about him. To the Empire, he was their celebrated hero but to the Republicans, he was the god of death.

How unfair, he was just doing his job as expected of an Imperial Mage and the Republican soldiers cursed him to high heaven. In war, where both sides killed each other to settle their differences and by the end of the day, unless victory was decided, no one could tell the evil and good like in the fairytales.

It was laughable both Republican and Imperial soldiers hold a delusion of a glamorous war, and how their psyches were shattered by the reality of trench war. There was no honor and justice in war, as the war itself was a crime to humanity. So the Republicans could shove it, and learn to keep their mouths shut and let their guns do the talking in the battlefield.

"There should be a law forbidding the Republicans from spamming the open channel with their nonsense." Alberich stated as he mashed a potato on his plate with a spoon.

Ludwig and Wolfgang gave him a sympathetic look, they had been there and listening to the Republican mages hurling insult after insult to Alberich since he returned to Rhine. "Well…"

"One of these days they will make me deaf-"

If they wanted to exact revenge on him, they have already succeed with torturing his poor ears. Every scream and curse sounded like nails scratching a blackboard to his ears, repulsing noise that made your teeth ache and tugging your nerves. Alberich couldn't close cover his ears, because both hand need to hold his rifle. He couldn't wince, closing your eyes and stop moving during a life and death battle was dumb.

"Still… you can't make our equipment your scapegoat." Just the other day, their new flight leader tossed his com aside -even though he can just turn it off- before shutting the noisy Republican Mages up himself -permanently- "Just turn off the open channel next time." Ludwig almost couldn't catch the communication device in time, and Alberich was scolded for losing his temper over such a small matter.

Alberich sulked, he couldn't tell them he had a hypersensitive hearing and his temper was shot because of it. "I will." He just had to suck it up and control himself.

A Corporal came in a hurry to the dining hall and said, "Second Lieutenant Beilschmidt?"

"What is it?" He stabbed the mauled sausage on his plate, scaring the corporal into a stutter.

Alberich was in no way intimidating as far as looks were concerned, but it was a common sight nowadays to see the boy return with blood all over him and the image burned to their retinas. "F-first Lieutenant Schwarzkopf needs you in his office, Sir!"

Alberich sighed at that, before finishing the last mouthful of sub par meal on his plate. He followed the nervous corporal to Schwarzkopf's tent, then entering by himself. "Second Lieutenant Beilschmidt reporting, Sir." He saluted, frowning at the familiar look on Schwarzkopf's face.

Schwarzkopf always had this guilty look etched on his face since Alberich returned to Rhine, and the younger mage knew he had all the reason to be displeased with this commander. His former flight leader, Krause had passed away as, even though he was delivered to a medic tent, in the end his wound was too severe. Schwarzkopf made him the new flight leader, giving him a heavy responsibility to lead Wolfgang and Ludwig.

Additionally, with revealing his role in alerting Western Army's high command everyone had been looking up to him and showering him with attention he didn't want. For example the medals, he had been collecting them like freebies since he returned and the worth of them combined on top of his Silver Wings surpass even what Commander Schwarzkopf gathered in his career. It was his luck to have a fair and tolerant leader, who didn't resent his subordinate with better achievements.

It was also a misfortune to have a leader with foresight and used you to demoralize their enemies. He wasn't very happy with Schwarzkopf about that, even if he understood the reason.

"You're reassigned to replace Hess as Squadron Commander of 206th." Just a few days ago the wound the commander suffered had rendered Hess unfit for duty, so his post was vacant now. "Second Lieutenant Ludwig and Wolfgang will join you in 206th Squadron starting from tomorrow."

Alberich frowned, displeasure clear in his young face. "Sir! I am just a Second Lieutenant, by all rights I am not qualified to lead a squadron. At the very least why didn't we promote a veteran that is originally a part of 206th? I am afraid promoting me would make other soldiers discontent." This was blatant favoritism!

Any other officer talking back would be reprimanded but Schwarzkopf knew Alberich's concern was valid, and the upper brass was being very selfish with saddling him with more responsibility because of his reputation. "This is an order from above, Beilschmidt. I myself would rather not have you detached from my unit to lead a new one… and a ragtag one at that." He passed Alberich a thin file, containing profiles of new members.

Alberich browsed the profiles, there was Tanya which made him glad to have her in the same unit so his face unconsciously lighted up. Schwarzkopf shifted his eyes to the side, recalling how he purposely put Alberich's childhood friend on the first page so the rest would be easier to swallow to the young mage. The next page with the name "Kurtz von Walhorf" made Alberich's eyes twitched, a volunteer from a noble family fresh from cadet school. The next mage was "Harald von Vist" who had the same background as the previous mage. The next two pages were girls from the conscript wing of cadet school, one was a native and another with a Russian name who was obviously a refugee from Rus, this world version of Russia. His eyes began to swim at the list.

There were a total of five new members, and since Schwarzkopf was also giving away Wolfgang and Ludwig to 206th Squadron that means… two flights would be composed of mages with less than one year of experience and four of them were fresh from cadet school. The file slipped from his fingers as he stared at Schwarzkopf in disbelief as he thought this sounded like a sick April Fool joke.

"Sir, everyone in this file except Second Lieutenant Degurechaff are untrained recruits." They were taught about basic spells in cadet school, but their practice in warfare must be nonexistent. "Isn't this mean…"

"The upper brass assess your skill highly, considering under your leadership the pair Ludwig-Wolfgang never suffer meaningful injuries that knock them out in the medical tent… you should be very capable to take care of the rookies." Schwarzkopf cleared his throat. "In other words, if you babysit them; the rookies would survive long enough to gain experience and become valuable members to our strained army."

Okay, this wasn't favoritism but an abuse. "Sir, you see my report… how I operate is solo with Second Lieutenant Ludwig and Wolfgang as backup to provide cover. I dare not to assume what the upper brass are thinking, but Mages like Second Lieutenant Degurechaff and I are more effective to operate in a small group or solo."

"Telling you to babysit also feels weird to me, Lieutenant Beilschmidt but-"He trailed off, "Considering the situation…"

"Considering the situation, we just have to wing it?" Alberich finished, "The redeployment of the main army must be in a mess right now, the estimated time for them to get here must be getting longer and longer?"

Schwarzkopf could only smile bitterly at that, "There are a lot of issues, but they estimate it would be two weeks."

Alberich crossed his arms, obviously unhappy to hear that. Both of them knew it was impossible, and it was just a generous estimation no frontline officers like them would believe. "Sir, we both know it's naive to expect we will be able to hold on and everything would be fine as long as the Main Army made it in time."

"Not to mention…"

The Northern army must be unhappy with them and the general staff now, not only are their resources in both material and manpower reduced, they still had to secure Norden from Legadonia because they couldn't back away from a war they started. Tanya said, without delay the main army could arrive in a month, but that was her generous estimation so it was not much of a stretch, it would take as long as twice the estimated time.

In short, the central was bullshitting them.

"If we keep delaying, we will be overrun by the Republicans." Schwarzkopf finished as he gestured towards the map. "We have received an order to switch to mobile defense."

Alberich groaned at that, "Am I right to assume this new squadron will be a rapid response team for our defensive line?"

"That's correct."

This was beyond unreasonable! "Sir, does this have anything to do with the paper on Stealth Decoy Strike Operations I submitted before?"

"Lieutenant, we know we keep asking unreasonable expectations from you, but we're all given the choice of only Victory or Valhalla by now."

Alberich ran his fingers through his red locks in frustration, suddenly it became so clear why he was given a squadron now. It was never a generous promotion, or trust in his merit as an officer. The upper brass wanted a better doctrine to eliminate their enemies, and they saw it fit to hand him a squadron. Even though Mages are rare, sacrificing a squadron was still a cheap price in this situation.

"Fine Sir, I will get it done somehow." The last part was uttered so softly, and if not for him standing close Schwarzkopf won't be able to hear it.

If anyone else said ' _somehow_ ' to their superior, that officer would cast doubt in his fighting spirit and skill. However when it comes to this young boy, his somehow was his way to say he would do whatever it takes to accomplish the order given to him. He had pushed back the God of War just with a pair of mages in his command, there was little they could doubt about him.

This boy was Alberich Beilschmidt, the brave and noble Paladin of the Imperial Army.

"There's one more good news other than the deployment of your good friend Degurechaff to your unit." He placed a black box with a golden insignia of their empire that Alberich recognized as one used as packaging of a computation orb. "The Elenium lab decided to issue their experimental orb to you, I heard your assistance to the development of this orb is valued highly."

 _'Being-X, just for this I would hate you with a force of a thousand suns! Not mandatory, your ass!'_

He observed the orb, only now he got a close look on the additional decoration that marked the orb as a holy relic. There was a grand star iron cross on the edge of the orb, and the luster emitted by the metal device gave off an unusual air. _'Did Being-X change the material that made up Elinium-95?'_ He turned the orb around so he could see the back, and one line in their old world's alphabet was carved ominously..

 **Fiat Voluntas Tua**

 **(Thy Will be Done)**

Now he was stuck on the frontline with a cursed orb. Alberich hated the cursed orb, but he would hate himself more if he refrained from using it and lower the chance of his and their comrades' survival in the battlefield. Like Tanya said, this was like telling a dehydrated man to not drink from the well next to him. As someone who was born in the modern era, he and Tanya were practical sort of people that won't let their pride kill them. But using this still pained him a lot, using a relic that would rob him of his free will.

"I believe their message regarding this field test is… to use it well." Said First Lieutenant Schwarzkopf.

Being-X was as unreasonable as the upper brass, never mind the almighty entity but as fellow human beings, the higher ups should have some decency when employing a kid like him. He wondered if their Silver Wing Assault Medal serve as a signboard to their superiors that they were fit for the worst posting in the battlefield.

Could he return the damned silver falcon? It brought him more trouble than it's worth.

┬┴┬┴┤幼女と少年戦記├┬┴┬┴

 **On the way to Rhine**

If asked why she was on a train to the dreaded frontline, the answer would be because their upper brass were idiots. While she foresaw the invasion by the Republicans, she still felt no soldiers were truly prepared for a bloodbath with another Great Power in the trenches. Also, she was more than just a bit annoyed when their upper brass had the gall to sum up the invasion as an _'unexpected occurrence.'_

Poor subordinates in the frontline like her paid the cost with their lives, so could you please not take it that lightly. In fiction Oops moments were funny, but in reality where ones' life was on the line, it was anything but. Even if Tanya knew the higher you are on the ranks, it gets harder to admit that you are wrong. She still wished to hear a semblance of an apology, if possible, for putting their country and poor subordinates like Tanya on the line of fire.

If that wasn't enough, she had the misfortune of being sent as a reinforcement along with her brand new cursed orb for field testing. Yes, it was an amazing state of art orb as Schugel said. It was perfected with the divine intervention of Being-X, but the cheat item was a pain in the ass. It corrupted their soul, and made them a soulless doll that spouts praise and worship for Being-X.

She turned the orb over, where on the back a certain ominous line was written.

 **Deus lo Vult**

 _God wills it_ , that was the meaning of this line. If Tanya recalled correctly, Alberich's had a matching phrase that meant… _Thy Will be Done-_ Which was like the answer to the one carved in her accursed orb.

"Hmph…"

That accursed metaphysical being was too confident that everything would go accordingly to his plan.

* * *

 **Beta-ed by  
Anyway... this chapter come out a tad choppier than I hope. Iwas planning to expand the scene of Alberich's first kill after he return to Rhine but I feel flaunting the drama is just a bad move so I cut it short.  
**

 **Yes, by right a second lieutenant can't lead a squadron and he should at least be first lieutenant for it. As you can see, it's an experimental squadron that's formed as a mean for Alberich to get more research material to form a more concrete doctrine to deal with Republican's disciplined fire. There's more loss than gain for Alberich and Tanya to be in this squadron. He is basically told to do 'instructor' job in frontline.  
So yes, I just push them to worse situation than in canon. If that's even possible.  
**


End file.
